AFTER NOVEMBER 5 ELECTION DEBACLE, DEMOCRATIC PARTY TRIES TO REORGANIZE, HOCKEMA " I WILL NOT RESIGN."

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

It was billed, ostensibly, as a regular meting of the Cameron County Democratic Party and the agenda included the usual review of the results of the November 5 general election and acknowledging of the party's officers and precinct chairs.

But this time the party members were on unfamiliar ground. For the first time in the party's history, their traditional blue county had gone red and candidate Donald Trump had painted it a furious Republican red.

Not only that, but the formerly solid Democratic constituency had elected Republican District 27 Texas Senate Republican candidate Adam Hinojosa, of Corpus Christi, as state senator in the seat once held by former Democrat Eddie Lucio Jr. To add insult to injury, Lucio – who fed being a Democrat for more than 30 years – endorsed Hinojosa over Democratic incumbent Morgan LaMantia.

The same happened in some county races like the sheriff's department when Eric Garza not-so surreptitiously campaigned for Santiago "Jimmy" Manrrique over Democrat Manuel Manny Treviño and former Cameron County Tax Assessor-Collector Tony Yzaguirre openly endorsed Republican Ramiro "Rami" Martinez. The last two Republican candidates lost, but nonetheless the serious disunity of the party was painfully evident.

The loss of Texas – and Cameron County, his home in particular – led Texas Democratic Party chairman Gilberto Hinojosa to announce his resignation this coming March to allow someone else to take over the party statewide. Not so Jared Hockema, the Cameron County chair, who said that – despite calls for him to step aside given the results – he would not. 

Given the self-inflicted divisions in the county party under Hockema – there are southern and northern county factions "clubs" as well as a woman's club – the agenda contained "possible action to implement a pledge for all primary candidates (in the upcoming 2026 primaries)" that they would support the eventual party primary winners in that general election. 

This set off Democrat precinct chair Mario Saenz – the brother of Cameron County District Attorney Luis V. Saenz, who was reelected to that position without opposition in the primary or a Republican candidate in the November 5 election – who said he had a problem with the item because everyone there was an adherent to the general core Democratic Party ideals and urged the party to steer a middle course and not heed splinter issues espoused by far-left proponents in cities like Austin.

That gave Republicans the opening to paint all Democrats as transgender rights proponents who were ok with allowing transgender individuals to use little girls' bathrooms, to defund the police, open the border, and generally to paint them as perverts and pedophiles. Even those candidates who had nothing todo with these issues, like Jonathan Gracia in his race against Janie Lopez in Texas House District 37 were accused by a pro-GOP PAC of supporting those issues and lost.

Saenz reminded those present that Hispanics are family-oriented and taught their kids to respect authority and the police. (See video above.) He also reminded them that the winner of the U.S. House of Representatives (D-34) Vicente Gonzalez had already called for a reassessment of the party's statewide agenda to prevent the distortion of Democratic Party by Republican PACS and operatives. Saenz's statements drew general applause from those present. Saenz said that Hinojosa had to retract his statements after Austin transgender and LGBT supporters loudly denounced his statements that the party had lost over Democrats support for those transgender issues. 

"Gilbert did not have to apologize for telling the truth," Saenz said. "We should be inclusive, but those are not the core issues that drive the majority of the party."

Next, Saenz latched on to Hockema and suggested that he might do the county party a favor and follow  Hinojosa's lead and step aside to let new blood take over the party's leadership (See clip below). Privately, he said that under Hockema, less than half of the county's party precinct chairs remain are filled, and of those that are filled, less than half of the chairpersons attend party meetings. New leadership, he said, is desperately needed.

As voices in the party call for changes to bring Democrats back to the fold in the face of Republican assaults on minority voting, anti-immigrant measures, and anti-women and anti-labor legislation, it will be interesting to se whether an entrenched party like the Democrats in Cameron County will heed their members' calls for a reassessment of  their image and campaign strategies.

We have from now until the until the March 2026 party primaries to see if they do.