Drug-Legalization Democrat Beats Rep. Silvestre Reyes in Texas Primary
Source: ABC News
Drug-Legalization Democrat Beats Rep. Silvestre Reyes in Texas Primary
By Rachel Rose Hartman
May 30, 2012
Eight-term Democratic Rep. Silvestre Reyes lost his bid for re-election in Texas Tuesday night, suffering a tough defeat to former El Paso City Councilman Beto O'Rourke.
"We're going to take this 'can-do' attitude to Washington, D.C. and we're going to get the job done," O'Rourke told supporters as the audience chanted "Beto!" at his election night party Tuesday. "We're taking over from a man who has served El Paso in Washington, D.C. for the last 16 years and there's no two ways about it.... that's a tough job... And for that, we owe Silvestre Reyes our respect and our gratitude."
With all precincts reporting, O'Rourke received 50 percent of the vote to Reyes' 44 percent in the El Paso-area 16th District Democratic primary. O'Rourke's total was just over the 50 percent mark, which was required to avoid a July runoff with Reyes.
Incumbent Reyes championed his experience, his ability to bring federal dollars to the district and his future role protecting Fort Bliss during the Base Realignment and Closure process. He also attacked O'Rourke for his inexperience, his past drunk driving arrests and his support to legalize drug use.
Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/drug-legalization-democrat-beats-rep-silvestre-reyes-texas/story?id=16459144
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Beto O'Roarke[/center]
msongs
(67,462 posts)frylock
(34,825 posts)but the sensible ones will tell you that drug decrim/legalization is a losing issue.
Occulus
(20,599 posts)Note how incredibly silent they've been lately.
I love the sound of a blue dog's frightened whimpers.
RainDog
(28,784 posts)It's not an unpopular stance... and people seem to like to be given a choice.
duhneece
(4,118 posts)He and another El Paso City Commissioner, Susie Byrd, wrote "Dealing Death and Drugs: The Big Business of Dope in the U.S. and Mexico: An Argument to End the Prohibition of Marijuana."
He tried to initiate a conversation about the failed War on Drugs & Reyes put an end to that. I am so pleased, so excited, so hopeful. I only wish I could move to El Paso to vote for him!
Judi Lynn
(160,649 posts)This man must have something really going on to have accomplished winning this primary.
I never heard his name until today.
Thanks for the comments. Clearly he has made lots of waves already!
xxqqqzme
(14,887 posts)Hugh Grant.
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)Then the mayor vetoed it, and when the council was ready to vote to override, Rep. Reyes started warning that a vote for it could cost federal dollars and intimidated the council into accepting the veto.
Voters in El Paso are close enough to the border to know what bullshit the drug war is.
A drug warrior bites the dust. We need to see a lot more of that.
Judi Lynn
(160,649 posts)trigger the end of this deadly, ill-chosen, stupid, violent money-making effort to fill our prisons, and build new ones as fast as possible.
What kind of self-respecting country would even consider behaving this way?
It's great to see Reyes step back now.
This is going to be a very important election to watch for the rest of the country, too. A lot of good could come from it.
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)That's a solidly Democratic seat in a solidly Democratic county.
David__77
(23,558 posts)Just saying... Doesn't hurt!
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)My guess is somewhat less than zero..
JI7
(89,279 posts)he should have retired some time ago.
Response to Judi Lynn (Original post)
Post removed
EFerrari
(163,986 posts)I remember something about him claiming he would "investigate" the destruction of the torture tapes?
sarcasmo
(23,968 posts)Uncle Joe
(58,459 posts)"The War on Drugs" particularly cannabis has no redeeming value, is counter productive to its' stated mission, destabilizes Mexico along with other nations in Central and South America, empowers and enriches organized crime while raping the Bill of Rights with continuous excuses for erosion.
"The War on Drugs" alienates vast swaths of the American People from their government by turning what should be educational, medical and personal privacy concerns in to a criminal/warfare issue, thus criminalizing and in turn disenfranchising the people from the vote and political process.
The government is thus weakened as organized crime and corporate penal profiteers turned in to the "middle men;" come between the people and their government, as time progresses the American government; is increasingly disconnected from its' citizenry and corrupted from the bottom to the top.
In the long run, the "War on Drugs" is anathema to any freedom loving people much less a nation claiming to be a "Shining city on a hill" of representative democracy.
Thanks for the thread, Judi Lynn.