IN THE CASE OF JONATHAN GRACIA: WHAT WENT WRONG?

 Special to El Rrun-Rrun

What went wrong?

Supporters of Justice of the Peace 2-2 Jonathan Gracia are still scratching their collective heads wondering how is came to be that he got trounced by Brownsville attorney Erin Elizabeth Gamez.

Gracia, who made no secret that he was just occupying the JP office as the first rung on his career ladder, seemed to be positioned to launch for higher office. Tomorrow state rep, the day after...who knows, state senate, Congress?  

But some things got in the way. 

First of all, there was the Erin-Ernie Hernandez Syndrome. Remember? 

When Ernie decided to make a run for the office he had been forced to vacate  –  county commissioner of Pct. 2 – Erin was also running for reelection to JP 2-2 as well. The general consensus was that Erin would breeze into the JP office. But looming over her candidacy was the dark shadow of  her father running for election after he had been forced out of office by Cameron County District Attorne Luis V. Saenz.

Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), Ernies' bad rep haunted Erin's bid for office and both lost.

In Jonathan Gracia's case, the same applied. For months after Cameron County Sheriff Eric Garza got into office, there was almost a daily barrage of distractions over some foible that emanated from the office of his chief deputy Robert Gracia, Jonathan's dad. 

First, he was "appointed" to the position before he was even a county employee. Then he started ordering changes and retaliating against those department officials and employees who had supported the former sheriff Omar Lucio against Garza. That resulted in a handful of lawsuits against Garza and the department over First Amendment violations that are now in federal court.

Then the county commissioners sued him for overstepping his authority and removing the court security officers that were under their budget and the oversight of Pct. 2 constable Abel Gomez.

Then Gracia couldn't pass the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) exam for peace officer. It would be March, three months after he "took office" that he finally passed the test and he could legally take the position which required the certification. He was then formally hired at a close-to-$100,000 salary. 

Not only that, but Jonathan started campaigning for Texas House of Representatives District 38 which required him to "resign to run" under the state election code...and didn't. He didn't answer his phone to attend death inquests and instead had the other two JPs – both women – in Brownsville shoulder the load.

Then he belittled his opponent for being a single woman, insinuating that unless you are married and have children, you're not fit to hold a public office.

But perhaps the stench of his reign was topped off by his wanton association with Adan Salas, an "investigator" for his office and his law partner Noe Hinojosa.

From months, insiders whispered about Salas' sordid past, his convictions for drug running, and the fact that he is a registered sex offender. Why on earth would a judge even associate with a person of that ilk?

And what does Jonathan Gracia do? 

He appoints him to be his representative in the elections office vote count where Salas was overheard name dropping and saying he had "special influences" at all levels of politics, which he does not.

Was it his father, his disdain of single women, or his association with the tainted registered sex offender investigator which prompted the voters to reject his candidacy for state rep? Or was it all of the above?

Perhaps future political scientists will look at the Gracia campaign for state rep and point out the things that you "shouldn't" do as the reason for his  ignominious defeat. And the cherry on the top (no pun intended) was to associate with Salas and name him as your representative when everyone knows his shady past. 

When will they ever learn?