ESCOBEDO OPTS FOR DISTRICT CLERK, BLOODLETTING AHEAD

By Juan Montoya
After weeks of tantalizing political pundits, Brownsville Independent School District president Enrique Escobedo finally announced that he will seek the Cameron County District Clerk's position being left vacant with the departure of Aurrora de la Garza who announced she will no longer run.
Escobedo had left supporters guessing whether he would seek the Precinct 2 commissioner's position he sought in 2010, the county treasurer's post held by David Betancourt, or even the county clerk's spot held by Joe Rivera.
Betancourt had jokingly said speaking before the announcement that he was hesitant about attending Escobedo's announcement be cause it would be awkward to find out the BISD president had chosen to run against him.
For his part, Cascos probably thought that if Escobedo announced for treasurer, he had probably cut a deal with Betancourt, who would then announce for county judge against him.
But at least one elected official who might have been wary of attending apparently had gotten the word that Escobedo was not going after his eat. Pct. commissioner Hernandez attended the event which was MCd by City of Brownsville commissioner Ricardo Longoria. Longoria has also been rumored to want to throw his hat in the ring for JP 2-3, the new justice of the peace spot created in the county.
Hernandez is being challenged to the Pct. 2 post by local attorneys Alex Dominguez and Gary Linan. Linan has run before for the position but was knocked out of the race by attorney Ruben Peña and Hernandez who got into a runoff. Antoehr candidate for the Pct. 2 position that year was none other than Escobedo.
Also in attendance was Cascos, who also attended a meet-and-greet of Rosie Sheldon-Sotelo, one of Escobedo's opponents. Sotelo whose campaign slogan rests on the 28 years of experience in that office highlighted by her stint as the civil case manager, is joined by Eric Garza, the criminal division file manager at the district clerk's office. Sheldon-Sotelo's son-in-law is Cris Valadez, Cascos' administrative assistant. Garza, however, is being backed by County Clerk Joe Rivera, whose influence goes abck several decades and is spread throughout the county.
The other candidate for district clerk is Neida Ruth Soto-Grantland whose base of support rests on the many years she spent as a BISD administrator. She lists her 32 years with the BISD where she started as a teacher's aide and climbed up the ladder to teacher, principal, and the director of personnel. Along
the way, we're sure, she did her share of favors.
This race, observers say, will be a bloodletting of the highest order, with the BISD vote split between Escobedo and Soto-Grantland and the county vote split between Garza and Sheldon-Sotelo and the rest of us picking sides to see who remains standing for the inevitable runoff.