A local politician describes the battle between Ortiz Jr. and Noyola as a fight between two Democratic factions: one from Robstown, a political hotbed that is the base of the Ortiz clan, and the other from Corpus’s West Side, a longtime Latino stronghold.
Can it really be that the Republicans, who did not field a primary candidate against Luna, will be able to nominate a candidate for the general election? The answer is yes — confirmed by the Secretary of State’s office — but that’s not the whole story. By resigning her seat, Luna allows both parties to name candidates to run in the general election. Had she announced that she was moving out of her district (say, to take a lobbying job in Austin), she would have been ineligible to serve — as was Tom DeLay after his recent “move” from Sugarland to Virginia, which is currently the subject of a federal lawsuit. If Luna had become ineligible, the Democrats still could have named a replacement, but the Republicans would have been out of luck. Her choice of exit lines gave the Republicans a huge gift. Was Luna was doing one last good turn for Tom Craddick before heading out the revolving door?
