GRACIA CAMPAIGN RUNS ROUGHSHOD OVER OTHERS' PROPERTY

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

It must have been a surprise to Rene Cardenas, heir of Cardenas Motors – and an avid supporter of Texas House District 38 candidate Erin Elizabeth Gamez who hosted a reception to open her campaign for the position and has openly endorsed her – to find a 8 by 4-foot campaign sign of her opponent Jonathan Gracia on his business property.

He has told some of his friends and Gamez's supporters that no one asked his permission to erect the sign there along his car dealership on the frontage road of US 77-83 (I-69).

Gracia, currently the Cameron County Justice of the Peace, Precinct 2, Place 2, announced that he is running for the House District 38 position now held by Eddie Lucio III. Lucio – like his father Eddie Lucio Jr., the Texas Senator for District 27 – announced recently that he would not seek reelection for the position.

Gracia had already told several political operatives and office holders that he was going to seek the seat, but avoided making an open announcement a year and one day before his term ended because under

Texas Law he would have to resign his JP 2-2 seat and be deprived of his salary. However,there were reports that he had already hired a film crew to produce his media spots and spent funds before he announced, illegal under Texas law and required him to "resign to run."

His supporters countered that the obvious campaigning for Lucio III's seat was done on behalf of his law firm, and not his candidacy. 

But once he could campaign openly without having to give up his position, his campaign workers started placing his campaign signs next to wherever there was one of Gamez whether they  had permission of the property owners or not. 

(Ironically, Gracia's father – former DEA agent Robert Gracia now Chief Deputy for the Cameron County Sheriff's Dept. under Sheriff Eric Garza – used to be Erin's father, local attorney Ernesto Gamez's, investigator, but reports now indicate that there is no love lost between the two.) 

"I'm sure that Rene (Cardenas) wasn't asked whether he agreed to have Gracia's signs put up on his property, but rather than have a confrontation, he hasn't complained publicly," said an attorney who was present at the campaign event Cardenas held for Gamez. 

"Gracia has been told that the workers didn't have permission, but he hasn't done anything to remove the sign," he said.

That's not the only site where Gracia's campaign workers have placed signs without the land owners' permission. One, a local attorney who sits on a non-profit board which prohibits political activity by its members, said he found one on a piece of property he owns and that he hadn't been asked for permission to place it there.

In this case, the property was located directly across 8th Street on Harrison Street where the Gamez's law office is located, a deliberate snub at Robert Gracia's former employer.

"Erin's people asked me why I had a Gracia sign on my property and I couldn't have hers and I told them the Gracia people had placed it there without my knowledge," he said. "I let Gracia know through his people that I couldn't campaign for anyone because of my position on the board and he let me know that he would have his workers removed."

That was about a week ago, the lawyer said. But only today, someone told him a crew came to his property to remove it.

Just as Gracia pretended that he was promoting his law firm while campaigning for state representative and filming media spots and participating in the Brownsville Christmas parade under that guise, it now appears that he is not above stretching the bounds of basic civility and respect for others' property to seek that office.