DOMINGUEZ TO BE SWORN IN TUESDAY AS DISTRICT 37 REP

By Juan Montoya

Tomorrow – January 8, 2019 – will be the start of the Alex Dominguez era for District 37 in the Texas House of Representatives.

That is the day that after 30 years of the district having the same officeholder – Rene Oliveria – former Cameron County Pct. 2 Commissioner Alex Dominguez will take his place in the 150-member body. (He's the third new house member pictured in the second row of the 32 new members who will be sworn in on Tuesday.)

As a state rep, Dominguez will get $600 per month, or $7,200 per year, plus a per diem of $190 for every day the legislature is in session (also including any special sessions). That adds up to $33,800 a year for a regular session (140 days), with the total pay for a two-year term being $41,000. What a deal!

Still, the real impact of a state rep is not in collecting this paltry check, but in passing legislation for funding that will impact the residents of his district. In the case of District 37, with its homeland security, school funding, immigration, transportation, coastal issues, and economic development concerns, this position is a critical role. 

For the past few months, Dominguez and the new members have been attending introductory classes to teach the the ropes in the House. Dominguez says his stint as a county commissioner and members hip in the city's Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) gave him a leg up over the new members ho had never held office.

"Many of them didn't expect to win and didn't know what an MPO was," he said. "Transportation issues are of critical concern in South Texas and being familiar with the functions of the MPO and the Cameron County Regional Mobility Authority is going to come in handy."

It is unusual for 32 incumbent to be replaced in an election, and Dominguez says the "Beto" (O'Rourke) effect on this past November's election is one of the main reasons many of these state Democrats ended up in the House.

"Beto carried a lot of them into office," he said. "There were some we thought would never make it against the Republican incumbent, but Beto carried them in even if he didn't beat Ted Cruz for the U.S. Senate." 

Until they are sworn in, the new reps can't use the title of their new office and many wait until their searing in before renting district offices. Therefore, the location of the new District 37 office has not been announced. Once that is finalized, his staff will make the location known to media and the public.

Replacing Dominguez at Pct. 2 will be Joey Lopez, a former Brownsville Independent School District trustee who attempted to unseat longtime Cameron County District Clerk Aurora de la Garza twice in the past, but did not succeed. He outpolled Brownsville firefighter Rigo Bocanegra in the Democratic primary and did not have a Republican opponent in November.

Also taking office in Cameron County to replace 197th District Court Judge Migdalia Lopez, who retired, is attorneys Adolfo Cordova, who bested attorney and former Brownsville Navigation Commission member Carlos Masso in a runoff  last May 22.

Lopez did not seek re-election at the end of her term, and there were no Republican candidates.