GARCIA SOARS, MAGALLANES CAN'T FIND MUD TO SLING

By Juan Montoya

Is this the best they could up with?

That's the question that supporters of Oscar X. Garcia are asking themselves after his challenger for the 357th District Court Juan Magallanes started posting a pushcard ad on his Facebook website.

The ad generally tries to rake Garcia for switching parties, much as did Judge Rolando Olvera.

For the past two months or so, Magallanes has been smarting from the assertions in
Garcia's published ads dealing with the $30,000 loan that he gave convicted 404th District Judge Abel Limas while he had a case before his court.

Later, after a jury had found against Garcia, Limas came back, overturned the jury verdict, and awarded Magallanes's client $195,000 in damages, another $9,500 in interest and (drum roll, please) $50 in attorneys fees for Magallanes, the losing lawyer.

Magallanes has already been caught in a li.., ahem, fib, after he told the Texas State Bar that he had received his law degree from the University of Texas Law School. In fact, he graduated from the Thurgood Marshall School of Law in Houston,
Texas is recognized as a top law school in the country and visitors to the site often consult it to determine a lawyer's credentials.  Texas Southern University Thurgood Marshall School of Law '80 – as the place from which he graduated.

Now there is a world of difference in the ranking of both schools. And the State Bar site accepts the lawyer-submitted education history from attorneys and takes them at their word that the information is correct. The Thurgood Marshall Law, when compared with nine other major law schools in the state, is ranked dead last while UT Law is at the very top.
When that fact was pointed out, the Magallanes camp contacted the State Bar and removed the claim.
The question Magallanes ask on the very bottom of his pushcard reads: "De we really need another judge that lies to you?"
Unless he's talking about himself, or Limas, it's a mystery who he's referring to.

Magallanes, of course, can't find any such incriminating history on Garcia, so the party switching is about the only charge they have to make against Garcia.

We won't publish the whole pushcard ad (and neither will any reputable newspaper) because, frankly, we don't think he can prove that Garcia promised Gov. Perry he would remain a Republican in exchange for the appointments he made. In fact, the assertion n the pushcard that Garcia has never returned any of the contributions made by Democrats to his campaign conveniently doesn't state that no campaign donor (Dem or Repub) has ever asked for the return of a donation.
In fact, in the past two or three months, the Garcia campaign has been the recipient of endorsements from well-known office holders (current and past) from both parties.
The latest defections from the Democratic camp have been Ruben Peña, the former candidate for Cameron COunty judge and commissioner as well as Dr. Manuel Gomez Jr., past superintendent of the San Benito ISD.
In the past, other endorsements have been Dr. Joe Zayas, past president of the State Dental Examiners, and Connie De la Garza, former mayor for the City of Harlingen.
With Garcia's pollster – based on a sample of 400 voters – giving him a double-digit edge over Magallanes, it was apparently necessary for Juan to come up with something – anything – that would cast Garcia is a bad light.
And just today, Magallanes and Texas Democratic Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa (his old law partner) were pressing the flesh at the Los Camperos Restaurant.
No esta pegando el chicle, Juan?