Austin Democrat seeks prestige job
Rodriguez wants to lead Mexican American Legislative Caucus.
Austin state Rep. Eddie Rodriguez is vying to become chairman of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus, one of the most influential positions a House Democrat can attain in the GOP-controlled Legislature.
State Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio, has led the caucus for six years but is leaving the Legislature after giving up his House seat for an unsuccessful run for state Senate. Rodriguez, who is the caucus’ vice chairman, has been making calls to House colleagues to line up support for the caucus election this fall.
So far, only Rodriguez and twoterm state Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, are actively campaigning for the position, but others may join the race, Martinez Fischer said.
If elected, Rodriguez said he would be active on school finance as well as the caucus’s bread-andb-utter issues of immigration and voting rights.
“If you look at where we are as far as our public schools, they’re predominately black and brown kids, so as an organization we’re going to have to be right in the middle of what we have to do,” Rodriguez said. “A lot of this immigration stuff is just red meat for the Republican base. I hate that it takes away from the other serious fights that we have to fight, like on public education and on the budget.”
Dispersing the chairman’s power within the caucus also would be a priority, he said.
Rodriguez, who represents southeastern Travis County, served as chief of staff to former state Rep. Glen Maxey, D-Austin, before winning his retiring boss’ House seat in 2002.
Canales, a trial attorney, said the difference between Rodriguez and him is a matter of personality. Canales said he would be more outspoken and aggressive, like Martinez Fischer.
“Eddie and I are going in line on 99 percent of the issues,” Canales said. “I believe you have to have a strong personality and a strong will. Eddie’s a little soft-spoken.”
Like Rodriguez, Canales stressed the need for power to be less centralized in the chairmanship than it was under Martinez Fischer.
“He was a little authoritar- ian, and it worked when he was there, but I think there’s
another way to do it,” Cana- les said. “I seek to give the members of MALC a voice,” he said, by “organizing meet-
ings wherein members can actually express what’s going on and maybe even vote.”
The 33-member caucus played a major role in the political and legal fight over redrawing Texas’ legislative and congressional districts after the 2010 Census. Although it is officially nonpartisan, the caucus is made up almost entirely of Democrats.
Martinez Fischer’s tenure was marked by federal court battles on voting rights, positioning the caucus to act as a counterpoint to the state’s GOP leadership by arguing
that redistricting maps and the voter ID law discrimi- nated against minorities.
“My years weren’t known for being passive,” Martinez Fischer said last week by phone from Washington, D.C., where he was representing the caucus at a White House summit on gun policy. “We were pretty aggressive, and I’m very proud of what we accomplished and not backing down, not being too concerned with the political reality if there was an issue that we cared about.”
State Rep. Poncho Nevárez, D-Eagles Pass, said both candidates are qualified, but he added that he would like to see a chairman who comes from a border district, a possible nod to Canales. Either way, he said, he hopes the race gets wrapped up before a last-minute showdown.
“I hope it’s something that we can get worked out before,” he said.