GUERRA'S FAKE "VICTIM" ACT FLOPS, TRIGGERS BACKLASH

Special to El Rrun-Rrun
It's a page taken straight out of the PRI campaign playbook.

Here's poor (not so) little Brownsville Navigation District Steve Guerra complaining about being abused by his opponents in the race for Cameron County Judge and vowing to take the high road instead, specifically singling out supporters of incumbent Eddie Treviño, since the other candidate in the race is former Cameron County Sheriff Eric Garza, who political observers say was put into the race as a stalking horse to throw the race into a runoff.

Guerra's self-serving ads claiming he would endure his opponent's "smear tactics" and remain on the high road despite the sticks and stones against him by those mean Treviño supporters are nothing short of disingenuous.

While he hides his hand, his supporters – through anonymous social media accounts (like Brownsville and Valley News) – attack and ridicule Treviño and accuse him of personal enrichment and of single-handedly giving away Boca Chica Beach to Elon Musk's SpaceX.

But despite his hand wringing and protestations, honesty and transparency aren't Guerra's forte. No martyr is he.

He forgets to mention that Treviño's vote is but one of three needed to have a majority to approve any county vote. Treviño's single vote cannot pass anything without the support of a majority of the commissioners' court. But Guerra knows that going after majority would backfire, so his anonymous supporters are content to demonize the incumbent in social media and accuse him – without providing proof – of allegations of criminality and wrongdoing.

In one of the social media attacks, Treviño is ridiculed in a Photoshopped meme and a caricature showing a rat-like Treviño on a leash and accusing him of single-handedly selling Musk Boca Chica Beach in return for bags filled with cash. They say that they want to "send Musk's pet rat back to the sewer" and vote for Guerra. Again, they offer no proof or put their names behind the accusations.

But they neglect to tell their followers that the Texas Legislature – with the support of the late Rene Oliveira and the House and Eddie Lucio Jr. in the Texas Senate – were the ones responsible for pushing through bills allowing Musk – through the county –  to close access to the beach. Treviño was actually the only one on the commissioners Court who was opposed the state move to approve the handing over access to Boca Chica, bypassing the county, to Musk's new city, Starbase.  

But this mudslinging backfires and has unintended consequences, too. None other than Cameron County Sheriff Manuel "Manny" Treviño issued a strong statement against these "smear" (that word again!) tactics being used by Guerra and his proxies in social media. 

"Statement from Sheriff Manuel Treviño: 

"I have worn a badge for many years, and with that badge comes a responsibility to stand up for truth, fairness, and integrity. That is why I am angry and disgusted by the tactics being used against Eddie Treviño Jr. in this campaign. Anyone who believes this kind of behavior is acceptable leadership should be ashamed.

What we are witnessing is not debate. It is not accountability. It is a deliberate attempt to mislead the public through guilt-by-association and recycled insinuations. Hiding behind fake social media accounts to attack others is an act of cowardice. That’s not what a real man does!

As a law-enforcement officer, I know the difference between facts and smear tactics. I also know that trying to destroy someone’s reputation without evidence is wrong — and it speaks volumes about the character and judgment of the people doing it.

If a candidate is willing to distort the truth and poison public discourse just to win an election, then they are not fit to hold public office." 

Likewise, Cameron County Pct. 1 Commissioner Sofia Benavides issued her endorsement of Treviño and chided Guerra's proxies for their childish antics and urges voters to vote for "the adult in the room." 

"It seems like his opponents are acting like spoiled kids who think dirty politics and shady social media posts are a magic wand that will somehow get them elected. Instead of doing the hard work – showing up, learning the job, and offering real solutions – they hide behind fake outrage and dumb, false narratives pushed online  

"That kind of behavior isn't bold or clever; it's immature and irresponsible. Cameron County isn't a game, and leadership isn't earned through smear pages or cheap tricks. This job demands discipline, experience, and respect for the people – not shortcuts or nonsense."

Therein lies the rub. 

Guerra and his anonymous proxies hadn't counted on triggering the ire of two popular elected officials with a lifetime of experience and loyal constituents who can see through the smear and detect Guerra's attempt to hide his hand after slinging the mud trying to make himself a victim and instead having his tactics coming back to bite his ample behind.