Rick Noriega for Texas: News

Noriega calls on rival Cornyn to return contributions from Stevens

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

by Robert T. Garrett
Dallas Morning News

Rick Noriega called on incumbent GOP Sen. John Cornyn on Tuesday to return campaign contributions from Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, convicted Monday of lying about taking freebies from a wealthy oil contractor.

It was the second day in a row that Mr. Noriega has tried to tie Mr. Cornyn to congressional corruption as their Senate race winds down.

Mr. Cornyn, campaigning in Temple, said he was “very disappointed” and said Mr. Noriega has begun to “make it up out of whole cloth.”

At issue is whether Mr. Cornyn pledged in July to return all money he’s ever received from Mr. Stevens’ political action committee — or just the PAC’s $10,000 contribution to the Texan’s re-election campaign.

Mr. Cornyn said that in his first Senate race in 2002, he received and spent another $10,000 in donations from the Stevens PAC.

In July, after Mr. Stevens was indicted on federal corruption charges, Mr. Cornyn announced he would give the Alaskan’s latest contributions — $5,000 in November and another $5,000 in June — to Big Brothers Big Sisters, a charity he has long supported. There is no dispute that Mr. Cornyn has done that.

On Tuesday, though, Noriega spokesman Martine Apodaca said Mr. Cornyn had pledged “to donate all Stevens money to charity” but had reneged.

“It’s critical that he wash his hands of all donations from a politician convicted of corruption,” Mr. Apodaca said.

Mr. Cornyn said he didn’t promise to cough up 2002 donations already spent — only the more recent ones, “just to eliminate any question.”

He has declined to say whether Mr. Stevens, the Senate’s longest-serving Republican, should be seated if he wins re-election Tuesday.

The Texan is vice-chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee, which may have to rule on the matter, Cornyn spokesman Kevin McLaughlin said.

On Monday, Mr. Noriega released an Internet ad that said Mr. Cornyn “did the bidding” of convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who was trying to keep Indian tribes in Texas from running casinos that could compete with his tribal clients in other states.

Responded Mr. Cornyn, “He knows that that’s not true. I’ve never met Jack Abramoff.”

Mr. Cornyn said that as Texas attorney general, he enforced a state law restricting gambling — and won in the courts. Mr. Cornyn said he never coordinated his anti-casino lawsuit, filed in 1999, with Mr. Abramoff or his associate, Ralph Reed.

The Noriega camp based its claim on e-mails between Mr. Reed and Mr. Abramoff in 2001-02.

A 2006 investigation by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee found that Mr. Abramoff and Mr. Reed had no influence on Mr. Cornyn’s lawsuit and that beyond Mr. Abramoff’s e-mail claims, there was no evidence Mr. Cornyn had provided information to the two lobbyists.

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Noriega rallies supporters in Beaumont

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

by Blair Dedrick Ortmann
Beaumont Enterprise

After touring Bridge City, Orange and Galveston for the first time since several days after Hurricane Ike, Rick Noriega said he was disappointed.

"As an American and as a Texan, I'm appalled that FEMA and the federal government have not responded better," said the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate on Tuesday night at a rally in Beaumont. "I don't know how many hurricanes it's going to take."

Noriega is campaigning for the seat currently held by Republican John Cornyn. Noriega said Cornyn had done little but pose for the camera during the hurricane response.

"While he's walking through fields cutting television ads, he needs to be walking through Bridge City and helping people get on with their lives," Noriega said, referring to Cornyn's campaign ads.

According to Enterprise archives, Cornyn has visited Southeast Texas since Hurricane Ike, including an Oct. 8 meeting in which he joined local officials in asking the Federal Emergency Management Agency for information about temporary housing.

Tuesday was Noriega's seventh day on a statewide tour which will end with the election Nov. 4.

For Daylyn Turner, a 40-something trainer with J.K. Chevrolet from Beaumont, Noriega is part of the "change campaign" that includes Barack Obama.

"Change is good. New ideas, fresh ideas," he said. "A lot of folk have had the opportunity to run the Congress, run the states, and I just think it's time for a person with a different flavor to run things. If somebody's got a new idea, it's time for them to get in the game."

Rachel Gunther, 29, who volunteers with the Jefferson County Democratic Party, agreed.

"I believe if Barack Obama is going to be an effective president, he needs Democratic senators," she said. "I believe Noriega will be effective for our children, and he's the one I want in office."

Noriega sees himself as providing an alternative to Texans tired of the status quo.

"Like most Texans, I'm fed up," Noriega said. "We can do so much better that we have the last four years."

The 27-year veteran of the U.S. Army and Army Reserves and current member of the Texas House of Representatives said the differences between himself and Cornyn are many.

For example, on health care, Noriega wants all Texans, especially children, to have health care. Cornyn is against universal health care, according to information from his campaign.

Noriega wants to begin phasing out the United States' military presence in Iraq, while Cornyn supported the troop surge and does not support a timetable for withdrawal.

According to the Cornyn campaign, Noriega has proposed more than $1.4 trillion in new spending, while Cornyn has been an advocate of fiscal responsibility.

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Noriega grabs endorsements from South Texas police

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

kauz.com
October 23, 2008

(AP) Democratic Senate nominee Rick Noriega accepted the endorsements Tuesday of rank-and-file law enforcement officers from some of the Rio Grande Valley's largest departments.

Standing in the shade of the Hidalgo County courthouse, Noriega picked up manpower that will be critical in his pursuit of incumbent Republican Sen. John Cornyn in the final two weeks of the campaign.

Cornyn released new television and radio ads Tuesday in which he discusses the troubled economy. In the ads, he says Texans are optimists but that the economy is tough and people are struggling.

"Partisanship, politicians pointing fingers, negative ads -- those don't help anyone. We should work together and get back to basics: good schools, strong families, low taxes, and finally make government work again," Cornyn says.

Noriega's campaign, which says it will soon return to the television airwaves with a new ad of its own, responded that it doesn't help Texans to side with President Bush 95 percent of the time, as it said Cornyn had.

"He likes to pretend he wasn't in Washington the last six years pointing fingers and supporting the failed economic policies of the Bush administration that drove this economy into the ditch," said Noriega spokesman Martine Apodaca.

In Edinburg, Noriega said Cornyn was part of a failed federal immigration policy that left local law enforcement shouldering to much of the burden "when it's something the federal government should be doing."

Noriega, as a lieutenant colonel in Texas National Guard, served on the Texas-Mexico border as part of Operation Jumpstart to bolster local law enforcement in securing the border.

Endorsing Noriega Tuesday were police unions from Brownsville, Mercedes, Pharr and McAllen, as well as deputy sheriffs associations from Hidalgo, Cameron and Webb counties. Several Valley police chiefs and sheriffs from counties farther west along the border have endorsed Cornyn, as well as the 600-member South Texas Organization of Police, an affiliate of the Texas Municipal Police Association.

As Noriega was boasting of more Valley endorsements, Cornyn was pointing to his backing from a bipartisan group from across the state called Veterans for Cornyn.

Despite a huge fundraising imbalance, lower name recognition and Cornyn's occasional success in rounding up Democratic endorsements, Noriega is expected to receive strong the support in the heavily Democratic Rio Grande Valley.

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U.S. Senate: Houstonian Rick Noriega is an old-fashioned Texas Democrat with the right voice for these new times.

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Houston Chronicle

Come January, the halls of Congress will likely be populated by strengthened Democratic majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Texas will need able representation in all arenas in that shifting legislative environment.

It will be especially important for Texans to have a strong, respected voice inside the expected Democratic majority in the Senate. Rick Noriega offers such a voice, with a distinctive Lone Star tone and perspective. The Chronicle endorses Noriega for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Republican John Cornyn.

Noriega, a Houstonian, describes himself as a Texas Democrat. That term, once common currency in the state's political conversation, seems to have fallen out of favor over the past several Republican-dominated years. But it resonates once more in this season of voter discontent with partisanship uber alles. Some old-fashioned moderate bipartisanship, Texas style, should be much welcomed in the Washington debate, particularly on overheated topics such as energy and immigration. Rick Noriega can provide it.

Noriega well understands that there are subjects on which Texas Democrats must stand apart from the party's national leadership. Energy is one. He is committed to bringing the message that the nation will need new domestic oil and gas supplies as it builds a bridge to greater energy independence and increased reliance on alternative energy sources. He will be able to point out in a forceful and personal way the folly of relying almost exclusively on hurricane-prone areas of the Gulf for supplies when abundant reserves can be tapped on the East and West coasts with little risk to the environment.

On immigration, Noriega is in step with traditional Texas views of tolerance and a warm embrace of cultural differences, rooted in respect for the law. He will bring calm and reason to the national debate.

As his role model for senatorial conduct, Noriega has selected the late Sen. Lloyd Bentsen. When facing difficult decisions in the Senate, Noriega says he would ask the question, "What would Lloyd Bentsen do?" This is more than a catchy slogan or a nostalgia trip: As a North Star for conduct and policy judgment, Noriega could scarcely choose truer than Bentsen.

Our decision to support Noriega was not made without due consideration of Cornyn's strengths. The one-term incumbent has been a strong and reliable supporter of freedom of information and open government laws. And he worked to speed up the citizenship process for immigrants serving in the military. But John Cornyn also has been a too-loyal foot soldier for the Bush administration, willing to make a right turn off the cliff in support of fatally flawed policies on Iraq and torture, as well as casting improvident votes on a host of social issues. Unlike Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, he is not known for his attention to constituent services.

Over the years, Noriega has worked his way up through the ranks. He has distinguished himself as a soldier in Afghanistan and on the Texas-Mexico border, and as an elected official in Austin. During Hurricane Ike, he performed duty above and beyond the call helping those in need at the George R. Brown Convention Center. He richly deserves a promotion to Washington.

Noriega is showing himself to be the model of an effective Democrat — a centrist, moderate Texas Democrat — in a time when most voters are sick of political extremes. As such, he may one day set the standard for what a strong Texas senator can be.

The Senate seat contested by Cornyn and Noriega has an impressive pedigree. Prior to Cornyn it was held by Phil Gramm, John Tower and Lyndon Johnson. Noriega would make a worthy successor.

Rick Noriega reflects the new face of Texas while speaking in the welcome tones of moderation that are a tradition worth reviving. The Chronicle urges a vote for Noriega for U.S. Senate.

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Cornyn, Noriega split on health care

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

By Jason Embry
MarshallNewsMessenger.com

Issues of universal coverage, children's health care tint debate.

WASHINGTON -- In all its complexity, health care can be one of the most difficult political issues for voters to follow. But a few facts illustrate why voters continue to worry about it.

The percentage of U.S. employers offering health insurance to employees decreased from 67 percent in 2000 to 60 percent last year, according to the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Average employer-sponsored premiums, meanwhile, have risen from $5,791 nationally in 1999 to $12,680 this year.
And in Texas, 6 million people -- one-fourth of the population -- lack health insurance. Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn and his Democratic challenger, state Rep. Rick Noriega of Houston, disagree about what lawmakers in Washington and Austin could have done to improve the system and what they should, or should not, do next.

The next president will do far more to set the agenda of health care reform than any one senator, so it's instructive to see how Noriega and Cornyn react to the plans put forth by the presidential candidates.

Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee, wants to provide access to all uninsured Americans through a new federal program with benefits similar to those given to federal workers. He also wants to create a National Health Insurance Exchange to help consumers and businesses buy private coverage at a group discount. He would require employers to provide coverage or contribute to a national plan, although some small businesses would be exempt.

Republican nominee Sen. John McCain wants to provide tax credits of $2,500 for individuals and $5,000 for families. He also would impose a tax on employee health care benefits. And he wants to establish a nonprofit corporation to guarantee affordable insurance to patients who have been denied coverage by private providers.

The Lewin Group, an independent health care consulting firm based in Falls Church, Va., estimates that the McCain plan would increase coverage by 21 million people, and the Obama plan would increase coverage by 26 million. The Obama plan would decrease private rolls and increase public rolls, and McCain's would shift more people to private coverage. Still, the Lewin Group projects that McCain's plan would cost $2 trillion over 10 years; Obama's would cost $1.2 trillion.

But the Tax Policy Center, a joint project of the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution, says Obama's plan would insure 34 million people who are not currently covered and cost $1.6 trillion, and McCain's would cover 5 million additional people and cost $1.3 trillion.

Cornyn embraces some aspects of McCain's plan but saves his harshest criticism for Obama's.

"The Obama plan, by driving people towards a one-size-fits-all public plan, could induce government-run health care, which puts an undetermined additional burden on the taxpayer, not to mention a negative impact on access and quality," Cornyn spokesman Brian Walsh said.

Cornyn has not endorsed McCain's plan to tax health care benefits or the size of the credit he wants to offer.

"I do believe that a tax credit for individuals so they can purchase health insurance is preferable to growing the rolls of government," he said in a debate Thursday night.

Because most of the uninsured in Texas have jobs, Cornyn has said he wants to give small businesses more incentives to offer insurance to their employees.

Noriega's campaign has pounced on the fact that McCain would tax employee benefits that currently are not.

"It would be safe to assume he would probably support most of what President Obama is going to offer" on health care, Noriega spokesman Martine Apodaca said.

Obama is expected to try to pay for his health care plan by letting President Bush's tax cut for people making more than $250,000 expire. Apodaca said that Noriega wants to let the tax cut expire only for people making more than $1 million and that Noriega thinks the health care plan can be paid for in part by allowing the government to negotiate prices with drug companies through the Medicare prescription drug program. But when Democrats offered legislation to do that last year, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the savings to the government would be negligible.

Noriega and Cornyn have also battled over each other's previous health care votes.

Specifically, Noriega has aimed at Cornyn's vote against legislation that attempted to expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program, a federal-state partnership that covers children from lower-income families who make too much money to qualify for Medicaid.

Bush vetoed that legislation, which aimed to cover an additional 4 million children through SCHIP and Medicaid at a cost of $35 billion over four years. Cornyn supported a plan that cost $10 billion and added 1.3 million children.

"I basically didn't want us to take our eye off the ball," Cornyn said. "There was plenty of money to make sure that all of the Texas children who qualified for Medicaid and SCHIP would get those health benefits, which I support."

He added, "Here in Washington, they wanted to extend it to adults and people who were making $82,000 a year."

The plan that Cornyn opposed actually would have taken a number of steps to reduce adult enrollment. It also would have barred states from covering families making more than 300 percent of the poverty level, which was $61,950. States that already had permission to go higher could do so.

According to a study by the Urban Institute, about 80 percent of the children who would have gained coverage from the plan that Bush vetoed came from families with incomes below 200 percent of the poverty level, which was $41,300 for a family of four.

"When you're No. 1 in the nation in children who are uninsured and you have the opportunity to insure more Texas children of working families...why would you not do that?" Noriega asked.

Texas officials said that there was enough money allotted to the program at the time to pay for all of those who qualified and that making any additional children eligible would have required action by the Texas Legislature, not just Congress.

In fact, Cornyn has hit back on Noriega on the issue by saying he and other state lawmakers should have done more to make sure that children who qualify for SCHIP and Medicaid are enrolled in those programs.

Noriega has said he voted for changes last year that made it easier for families to enroll.

Cornyn, a lawyer who used to defend doctors in medical malpractice cases, has criticized Noriega for voting against a 2003 constitutional amendment that capped noneconomic damages awarded to malpractice victims.

Doctors say the caps are bringing physicians to Texas. According to figures from the Texas Medical Board, the state licensed more than 3,600 new doctors in the 2008 budget year. The previous high before voters approved the malpractice caps was 2,800 in 2002.

Noriega said he voted against the caps because he thinks juries should be able to decide how much money a malpractice victim receives.

"The only level playing field that folks in the district that I represent have is a jury of their peers," Noriega said. "And that same jury, we allow them to decide who lives and who dies in this state. We should also allow them to decide what the cost is for somebody losing their finger or a child being maimed."

jembry@statesman.com; 202-887-8329

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Senate Candidate Reflects on Financial Woes

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Democrat Rick Noriega visited El Conquistador in Waco Monday to discuss his campaign for the U.S. Senate and encourage McLennan County citizens to cast their ballot for him in November.

A Houston native and member of the Texas House of Representatives, Noriega is running against current Republican Sen. John Cornyn.

The Baylor Lariat interviewed Noriega during his Waco visit.

Q: With college tuition continuing to rise, why should Baylor students vote for you?

A: In the education plan that we've proposed, we talk about how we can increase access to college education. I've fought in the Texas legislature against tuition deregulation. I said it was going to be a tax on the middle class, and it's proven to be. I want to expand grants and scholarships, reduce the interest rates on college loans ... I want those universities that receive federal dollars to have a rate stabilization. If you're coming in at a $20,000-a-year tuition rate and you know by the time you graduate it's going to be $25,000, we're going to have a fixed rate for you so it's predictable. It's going to be $23,000 for the four years.

Q: How do you differ from your opponent Sen. John Cornyn?

A: My priority is Texas families and those people who elect me. My opponent's priority is the special interests of Washington D.C. that contribute to his campaign. Whether it's insurance companies or his bailout vote where he's received close to $4 million from the money houses on Wall Street, or big oil companies, his priority has been those special interests. My priority is Texas families.

Q: Texas is a historically Republican state. Why does Texas need Democratic leadership?

A: Texas is a very independent state, and I think they recognize they've been led astray due to poor leadership. They want change and if they had a choice of someone with proven credibility and leadership having served our country as a businessman, in the legislature and military service for 27 years. They recognize our sincerity and commitment to stand up and fight for Texas families. I think an independent Texas, regardless of political flavor, will see that we can do much, much better than what we have in the past six years.

Q: You said in a debate last week that you were against the recently approved $700 billion financial bailout plan. Why did you disapprove of the bill and what would you propose as senator to help the struggling economy?

A: I was against it because it didn't put Texas homeowners first. It put the money houses on Wall Street first. It didn't resolve anything.

The market had the worst week on Wall Street than we've ever had in the history of this country because there's a fundamental mistrust of what government is telling people today, whether it's domestic policy or international policy.

My focus would have been on increased regulatory reform, which would've patched a hole in the roof and not just mopped up a wet floor. That means putting in regulatory oversight on the issues that got us to this point.

The second thing is we need to have more accountability. We need to have cops on Wall Street like we have cops on Main Street. That way we can build a trust with taxpayers and restore trust with the international community too. We didn't do those things.

We still haven't repaired the violation of trust that exists with our government. Anything they tell us, we just don't believe them anymore.

Q: What should be done to prevent illegal immigration, and how should the United States respond to the millions of illegal immigrants who already live here?

A: I'll be the only United States senator who has commanded soldiers as Laredo Border Sector Commander working with Border Control ... I don't believe in political hoaxes, like the construction of this border wall. It's a wall to nowhere. I visited it last Thursday, and I saw a stretch of a mile wall, in the middle of nowhere, that will accomplish nothing but be a palette for graffiti. It's not going to do anything. We do need to have real border security, but not these political hoaxes, wasting our money on something that won't work. With that $360 million dollars they just appropriated, they could've placed a border control person so many feet apart that would secure it. We need to increase visas in this country for white-collar and blue-collar workers, but we need to know who they are, where they are and what they're doing. We need to have a process that people can come out of the shadows and legitimize their status -- willing to learn English, pay a fine and pay their taxes. We can't do what Mr. Cornyn has proposed, which is to say they're going to be removed from this country and then ask permission to return, because then no one will come forward. We need to go after illegal employers that deliberately lure people here and exploit them. Then we need to tell countries they need to start taking care of their own.

You served in Afghanistan post-Sept. 11. How would that affect your policy decisions in the Senate?

I know what families go through. I know what veterans and soldiers go through. There will be no greater advocate for veterans' issues than me. I still serve. I'm disappointed, if not offended, that the senator has voted over 20 times against different benefits for veterans.

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President Clinton Campaigns for U.S. Senate Candidate Noriega in Dallas

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

President Bill Clinton will appear at a rally for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Rick Noriega on [Tuesday] evening in an effort to help him against incumbent Senator John Cornyn.

The rally begins at 6:30 p.m. at Thomas Jefferson High School in Dallas.

At the rally, Noreiga plans to address his plan to combat the increases in health care costs, fuel prices and tuition rates.

Houston native Noreiga is making his first attempt toward the U.S. Senate after serving four terms as a state Representative starting with his inauguration in 1999. His wife Melissa has served a member of Houston City Council since 2007.

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Texas Senate candidates Rick Noriega, John Cornyn clash over bailout at debate in Houston

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Robert T. Garrett
Dallas Morning News

HOUSTON — Sen. John Cornyn and his Democratic challenger, state Rep. Rick Noriega, clashed over the financial industry bailout and health care in their first debate Thursday.

At the outset, Mr. Noriega assailed Mr. Cornyn's support for the $700 billion Wall Street rescue package.

"We can't believe anything that we hear out of Washington, D.C., any more," Mr. Noriega said in a debate broadcast statewide on public television.

"This decision was made in haste," he said, adding that the stock market's negative reaction shows the bailout wasn't well thought out.

"It didn't have the accountability," Mr. Noriega said. "Quite frankly, we need to see that people go to jail."

Mr. Cornyn, who has called for criminal prosecution of financial industry executives, defended his vote as necessary to keep the economy from tanking.

"Strong leadership means you have to act in a time of crisis and not just stand there," he said.

On health care, Mr. Noriega criticized the Republican incumbent for opposing expansion of the Children's Health Insurance Program for youngsters in working-poor families.

"That's wrong," said Mr. Noriega, who said it's unacceptable for Texas to lead the nation in the percentage of its children without coverage.

Mr. Cornyn responded that income limits for CHIP shouldn't be raised until the state does a better job of signing up youngsters eligible for CHIP and Medicaid.

"He spent 10 years in the Texas Legislature and allowed this condition to get so bad that 800,000 kids are not even signed up," Mr. Cornyn said.

Mr. Noriega also assailed Mr. Cornyn for a proposal to give small business employees the same tax breaks on health care that workers get at big companies. The plan is controversial because it would push more families away from group plans at their workplace and into the individual and small group marketplace.

"Senator Cornyn has endorsed a plan that would tax middle-class families with a scheme to move people away from employer-based insurance to the HMOs and insurance companies that have consistently supported his campaign," Mr. Noriega said.

Mr. Cornyn replied, "Well, that string of misrepresentations coming from Representative Noriega, I was looking over to see whether his nose was growing as he was speaking. Of course that's not true."

The economy and talk of the bailout dominated the debate, though.

Mr. Cornyn said to have rejected the bailout package "would've left the American people and our economy in ashes," jeopardizing Texans' retirement savings. He said the measure was backed by 75 senators, increasing the actual tally by one.

"I share your anger," Mr. Cornyn said. "But I don't think we can just say, 'I'm mad' and not come up with an alternative, not to mention the $4.5 billion in tax relief that is also included in this bill that goes to victims of Hurricanes Ike, Dolly and Gustav that you would have voted against."

Mr. Noriega scoffed, saying Galveston residents would've gotten federal help eventually even if the bailout bill wasn't passed.

He said the bill does nothing to prevent more foreclosures against struggling workers.

"The first priority for that bailout had to be Texas homeowners … and it was not," Mr. Noriega said. "Voting for it, Senator, was wrong."

Libertarian Yvonne Schick of Spicewood, who also participated in the debate, also opposed the bailout.

"Texans feel betrayed," she said. "They feel they can no longer trust either party to stand on the Constitution … or to even use common sense."

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Noriega knocks Cornyn over donations

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

by Kelley Shannon
Associated Press

AUSTIN—Democrat Rick Noriega's campaign suggested Monday that despite his claims to the contrary Republican Sen. John Cornyn is cozy with Wall Street investors and bankers who contribute millions to his campaigns.

Noriega's camp was responding to a Cornyn television ad in which the senator is shown walking among cattle in South Texas and speaking of the financial and credit crisis. "It shouldn't have happened," Cornyn says in the ad.

The Noriega campaign posted an ad on the Internet that contends Cornyn "just follows the herd." It points out that Cornyn, a first-term Texas senator, has accepted $3.9 million from the financial, insurance and real estate sectors.

Among the donations are $731,525 from the security and investment industry and $546,342 from commercial banks, the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics, which is cited as the Noriega campaign's source, states on its Web site.

"Cornyn has a long record of pay-to-play politics," said Noriega spokesman Martin Apodaca. "Unfortunately for Texans, after taking nearly $4 million from the financial industry Cornyn turned around and gave them $700 billion in taxpayer money. It looks like the financial industry got quite a return on their investment."

The ad for the underfunded Noriega campaign is running only on the Internet instead of in paid advertising on television.

Cornyn was among 74 senators from both parties who voted last week for a $700 billion financial rescue package that President Bush signed into law on Friday.

Cornyn spokesman Kevin McLaughlin said the Noriega ad is "disingenuous" because the nearly $4 million in contributions from the financial industry don't all represent Wall Street.

"These people who are giving him money are small town stockbrokers, independent insurance brokers, are realtors," McLaughlin said. "Senator Cornyn has received more, a higher percentage of his donations, in state than any incumbent running for Congress."

McLaughlin brushed off Noriega's assertion as "just another negative attack" from a desperate campaign a month before the Nov. 4 election. He also said Noriega refuses to say whether he supports tax breaks and other measures contained in last week's massive bailout.

Noriega issued a lengthy written statement last week after the Senate's vote in which he said the plan doesn't include enough oversight, reform, limits on executive pay and real assistance for homeowners. The statement doesn't specify which parts he supported.

"Taxpayers are being asked to clean up the Administration and Wall Street's mess, and both have asked the taxpayers for a blank check. I do not believe we should give them one," the statement issued Wednesday said.

Noriega's ad cites past congressional votes Cornyn has taken that Noriega claims shows his closeness with the financial industry.

In Cornyn's ad, the senator is cast as someone who tried to warn congressional leaders in Washington about the housing and financial crisis as long as two years ago. To back that up, Cornyn's campaign released a 2006 letter to Senate leaders that he and 19 other senators signed warning of potential problems with the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

But Noriega's campaign said Cornyn also accepted contributions from lobbyists for Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

Cornyn has released four different television ads so far, which are running on broadcast stations and cable statewide.

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Rick Noriega says bailout package must do more for homeowners

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

By Robert T. Garrett
Dallas Morning News

AUSTIN - Senate Democratic challenger Rick Noriega today said the financial industry bailout plan must do more for homeowners and bring back stricter control of Wall Street.

Incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, meanwhile, said the emphasis should be on protecting taxpayers and the economy.

Neither endorsed a $700 billion package, which the House today rejected.

Mr. Noriega, speaking to reporters before the House's action, said the bipartisan compromise negotiated over the weekend was "a good start."

Still, Mr. Noriega predicted the bill would be changed and said "a priority for me" is allowing federal bankruptcy judges to modify the terms of mortgages to help people stay in their homes. Some Democrats pressed for such a provision, though it was rejected as unworkable.

Mr. Noriega, a five-term state representative from Houston, said he also would like to "make sure we have real regulation" of financial markets. He said deregulatory moves made in the 1990s allowed reckless lending and abusive packaging of bad loans as securities. He said Congress should demand stronger controls.

"Now is the time that the government has the leverage to address the leak in the roof while these Wall Street lobbyists are wanting something. They're wanting our money," he said.

Mr. Cornyn, in a statement after the House vote, said negotiations on a bipartisan solution must continue. He said small businesses can't afford to lose "access to affordable credit," and the economy must be strengthened.

While the freshman Republican said he shares many people's anger that the House-rejected version "rewarded Wall Street at the expense of Main Street," he said that "simply doing nothing is not an option."

Mr. Cornyn said "the current crisis must not be used as an excuse to grow the size of government and increase the tax burden on working Americans who value personal responsibility."

Both Senate candidates have called for aggressive prosecution of financial executives.

Mr. Cornyn recently asked the FBI to investigate possible wrongdoing by top officials at housing lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which were rescued by the federal government earlier this month.

Mr. Noriega, though, called the incumbent's action too little, too late.

Referring to Fannie and Freddie, he said, "For some time, the signals were out there and we had an administration and a junior senator of this state that continued to prefer to...represent those interests of Wall Street and not those interests of Texas families."

He also sharply criticized Mr. Cornyn for accepting nearly $4 million in campaign contributions from financial services companies. Mr. Noriega's campaign has said only senators who ran for president or head Senate committees have raised more than Mr. Cornyn from the financial sector.

Cornyn aides have questioned why Mr. Noriega didn't also criticize Democratic senators who've pocketed vastly bigger sums from Wall Street than Mr. Cornyn.

Also, Cornyn's office produced a May 2006 letter in which he and 23 Republican colleagues warned that Fannie and Freddie might fail. The GOP senators called for "strong and independent regulatory supervision" of the two lenders.

Cornyn spokesman Brian Walsh said the Texan "was one of the few members of the Senate who sounded the alarm bell and sought reform well before this crisis emerged. In contrast, leading Democrats on Senate Banking and House Financial Services Reform committees opposed his efforts."

Noriega spokesmen Martine Apodaca, however, said "writing a letter is not leadership." He said "it's irrelevant" that tougher controls were derailed by the House panel's chairman, Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., and the Senate committee's head, Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn.

"Those people aren't on the ballot on Texas," Mr. Apodaca said. "John Cornyn is."

Link to full article

State Rep. Rick Noriega: Texas needs education overhaul

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

By Robert T. Garrett
The Dallas Morning News

Democratic Senate challenger Rick Noriega today said the federal government should give incentives for colleges and universities to ''lock in'' tuition and fees for a student’s entire stay at the school.

Mr. Noriega, a five-term state representative from Houston, said he's read estimates that annual college costs for today's newborns will be at least $50,000.

''How are Texas families going to do that?'' he said, standing in front of an East Austin elementary school.

Mr. Noriega, noting many teachers in Texas middle schools and high schools weren't trained in college in the academic subjects they teach, also urged federal rewards for math and science majors who go into teaching.

He called for an overhaul of the No Child Left Behind Act so school districts aren't ''cookie cut'' and can meet goals following different strategies. And he endorsed expanded federal funding of education programs, from Head Start and pre-kindergarten instruction in the early years to Pell grants and student loans in college.

''Washington is broken, especially in this policy area, and once again has failed to lead,'' Mr. Noriega said. ''Our children's future is too important to send the same failed leadership to Washington for another six years.''

Mr. Noriega trails in money and polls as he seeks to unseat Republican freshman Sen. John Cornyn.

Kevin McLaughin, a Cornyn spokesman, said Mr. Noriega's education proposals are ill-advised.

''This is more federal government and John Cornyn is for more local control,'' he said. ''Parents and teachers should decide what’s best for kids, not the federal government.''

Link to article

Noriega lays out education plan

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

By Kelley Shannon, Associated Press

AUSTIN - Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Rick Noriega released an education plan Monday that proposes reforming the No Child Left Behind Act for public schools and increasing grants and loans for college students.

Noriega also proposed expanding funding for pre-kindergarten programs and helping states increase pay for inner-city and rural teachers.

"Investing today in our education system will more than pay for itself tomorrow. Texas has already seen the benefits of a work force equipped for high-technology and high-skill fields," Noriega stated in the plan, which was being released in at Austin news conference. The Associated Press obtained a copy in advance.

The Houston state legislator is trying to unseat first-term Republican Sen. John Cornyn in the November election.

Cornyn's campaign responded by saying that Cornyn has been a leader in education reform.

"He is committed to limiting the government's burdensome role, empowering local schools and teachers with the flexibility and tools to develop tomorrow's leaders," his campaign said in a prepared statement.

Cornyn co-sponsored legislation authorizing more than $30 billion to invest in science, technology, engineering and math research and education programs, his campaign said. It also said he introduced a bill to ensure parents are properly notified about their options when their children's schools "aren't making the grade."

Noriega did not immediately provide a cost estimate for his proposals.

Noriega noted that Texas ranks the lowest in the nation in the percentage of adults who have at least a high school diploma and that from 2002 to 2006 tuition and fees at public universities increased more than 60 percent.

He said he wants to require any college that accepts federal assistance money to allow students to lock in a flat tuition rate. He also proposed increasing the number and size of Pell Grants, the grants for low-income university students, and increasing funding for government-backed student loans.

Cornyn's campaign said he supported legislation that by 2011 will raise the maximum Pell Grant from $4,050 to $6,300 and reduce interest rates on certain federal student loans from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent.

Noriega proposed ending "illogical rules" from the No Child Left Behind Act for public schools, which he said has created an environment that encourages schools to "game the system."

"Congress needs to demand better oversight in how states and schools report their statistics, and hold leaders accountable for attempts to deceive the system," Noriega said.

Cornyn's spokesman, Kevin McLaughlin, said Cornyn already has introduced legislation to reform No Child Left Behind to reduce regulatory burdens on educators.

Link to article

Rick Noriega: How to repair broken health care system

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Dallas Morning News

Rick Noriega, a Democrat who has represented his Houston district in the Texas House since 1999, is running for the U.S. Senate. He may be contacted through info@ricknoriega.com.

Many issues deserve the attention of our elected officials, but few directly affect the lives of Texans like health care. We must all unite around the goal of accessible, affordable health care for every Texas family. Families in this state are facing a health care crisis because Washington isn't looking out for them. Sen. John Cornyn recently said he thinks Texas is a national model for an effective health care system. However, our state has the nation's highest rate of individuals without health insurance. We can and must do better.

My health plan will protect Texas children, lower costs to employers and individuals, and reform the inefficient, failing status quo.

In Texas, over 20 percent of children are not covered by health insurance. But while Texas has the highest number of uninsured children in the country, Mr. Cornyn voted six times against expanding health insurance coverage for Texas kids.

My health care plan reflects my long-time advocacy of expanding coverage to children. As a state representative, I helped increase coverage to more than 500,000 children, sponsored legislation that eliminated bureaucratic 90-day waiting lists, and led efforts to allow families to deduct child care costs while the state determined their eligibility status.

Our current approach is unacceptable – every child should be able to go to the doctor whenever needed. That's why my plan calls for an expansion of the children's health insurance program to provide coverage for all Texas children. My plan also will improve health security and options for all Texans. According to analysis of census data by Families USA, 45 percent of state residents are uninsured for at least part of the year.

That's why I've proposed creating an "insurance connector" to link Texans with insurance plans that are suitable for their needs. The federal government would negotiate with private insurers to provide options for all Americans. Texans who make too much money to qualify for Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program, but still can't afford health insurance, would receive a discount based on a sliding income scale. This innovation will use the strengths of the competitive marketplace to cut costs and improve access.

My proposal also focuses on affordability. We cannot continue to allow health insurance companies to inflate premiums and reap unprecedented profits. Between 2000 and 2006, family health premiums increased by nearly 80 percent. I will push for wider adoption of electronic medical records to cut down on inefficiency and an increased emphasis on preventive health efforts. My plan also helps small businesses deal with the costs of health care, through targeted tax credits to incentivize coverage.

Finally, we need to build transparency and accountability into our currently broken and needlessly complex system by giving Texans more information about physician ratings and how their premiums and health benefit expenses are calculated.

My opponent thinks tort reform is the answer to our health care woes. Indeed, his campaign specifically claimed that Proposition 12 has succeeded in providing health care services in underserved areas and improving access in others. But that claim simply isn't supported by the facts. Doctors moving to Texas because of lower insurance rates have overwhelmingly chosen urban areas, not rural or underserved areas, a fact that undermines one of the strongest arguments for Proposition 12 – expansion of access. According to Texas Watch, underserved areas remain underserved.

Texans deserve a health care system that works for them – not for Big Insurance and the Washington lobbyists. Texans deserve real health care security for their families, lowered costs for employers, and more transparency and accountability than our current system provides.

Rick Noriega, a Democrat who has represented his Houston district in the Texas House since 1999, is running for the U.S. Senate. He may be contacted through info@ricknoriega.com.

Link to article

Senate Candidate Noriega Makes Stop in Tyler

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Tyler Morning Telegraph

Standing on a tree stump at Bergfeld Park Sunday afternoon, Democratic U.S. senatorial challenger State Rep. Rick Noriega told supporters that his opponent was not about standing up for Texans.

''I'm seeking the race for the United States Senate because I know we can do better,'' Noriega said.

Sunday's visit to Bergfeld Park was one of two stops made by the candidate in Smith County. That evening, a fundraiser and rally was held at the Liebbe Ranch in Lindale.

During his speech, Noriega told a crowd of more than 50 about the importance of voting, not just in thepresidential election, but straight ticket during the November general election.

He said that while voters may be excited to vote on the larger presidential ticket, voting down-ballot is paramount for the Democratic Party in Texas.

''We have to keep building the Democratic Party in Texas,'' he said.

Noriega, a 27-year veteran of the military and Lieutenant colonel the U.S. Army National Guard, attacked his opponent for his failure to support military personnel by not providing them with proper body armor or medical care for returning soldiers.

Noriega criticized his opponent, Republican Sen. John Cornyn, for his pandering to special interest groups in Washington, big oil companies and HMOs.

''He's not about representing the interest of Texans,'' he said, adding that Cornyn is a recipient of large contributions from special interest groups.

Calling his competitor ''out of touch'' with families and the middle class Texans across the state, Noriega urged East Texans to make a change and replace Cornyn in the U.S. Senate.

Noriega also touched on the importance of stricter penalties for businesses that employ illegal aliens, utilizing wind and solar power, and increasing health insurance for Texas children.

A graduate of the University of Houston and Harvard University, Noriega is a member of the Defense Affairs and State and Federal Relations Committee of the Texas House of Representatives where he has served as the state representatives for the Houston's District 145 since 1998.

A father of two sons, he is married to At-Large Houston City Council member Melissa Noriega.

Link to article

Noriega spells out his plan for reforming immigration

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

By R.G. Ratcliffe
chron.com

AUSTIN — Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Rick Noriega unveiled an immigration reform plan Wednesday that is very similar to a measure that died last year largely because of opposition from Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn.

Noriega touted his plan as a ''bold'' measure to fix a ''broken'' immigration system, but it was almost identical to bipartisan legislation that had been backed by President Bush and Texas business leaders in June 2007.

''Without question we know as a matter of fact that Mr. Cornyn was an obstructionist on the last debate on comprehensive immigration reform,'' Noriega said. ''He hasn't done anything in six years to help reform immigration.''

Cornyn's campaign described the Noriega plan as ''obviously written by inside-the-beltway liberals.''

A path to citizenship
Noriega's plan opposes border fences and proposes a crackdown on businesses that hire illegal workers, but it also includes a path to citizenship for unauthorized immigrants already living in the United States.

Cornyn, who is being challenged in his re-election bid by Noriega, was blamed by labor unions and immigration groups for killing the bipartisan bill last year through obstructionism. Cornyn called that a ''bald-faced lie'' and blamed Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for killing debate on the bill by not allowing Republican amendments.

During a backroom discussion on the bill, Sen. John McCain of Arizona used profanity to describe Cornyn's opposition. McCain, now the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, later described the exchange as a ''frank and open'' discussion.

Noriega described his plan as a solution to Washington gridlock. Noriega said he had not seen an analysis of his plan and the bipartisan legislation. He said his plan arose from his work as the National Guard's Laredo sector commander in Operation Jumpstart and as chairman of the Texas House task force on border security.

''We're worse off both as a state and as a country for not having comprehensive immigration reform. We are less safe. The border is not as secure as it should be,'' Noriega said.

Technology would be used
His plan opposes a border fence, relying instead on surveillance and technology to stop illegal immigration. Noriega called a border fence a ''gimmick'' and proposed increased technology and the hiring of 18,000 new border agents. He also said there is a need for Operation Jumpstart II, with the National Guard supporting the Border Patrol.

Cornyn campaign spokesman Kevin McLaughlin said Noriega in a 2006 interview said putting military personnel on the border was ''more of a political exercise than a security exercise'' and that Noriega called it ''fluff.''

McLaughlin said the number of Border Patrol agents has grown from 9,000, before Cornyn was elected in 2002, to 15,500 last March. McLaughlin also said presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama voted for the fence that Noriega opposes.

Noriega also favors a crackdown on businesses that employ undocumented workers. His plan includes hiring an unspecified number of new agents to police businesses that hire undocumented workers.

As to the estimated 11.5 million immigrants in the country illegally, Noriega said his plan is ''a realistic solution, forcing the individuals already here to come out of the shadows.''

That was tough rhetoric for a plan to allow those here illegally to stay only if they learn English, pay fines and back taxes and get on the path to citizenship -- proposals similar to those championed in the bipartisan legislation by Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. Many Republicans, including Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, called the proposal amnesty for illegal immigrants.

Link to article

State Rep. Rick Noriega focuses on alternate energy sources during visit

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

By Maurel Merette
timesrecordnews.com

Under the warm rays of a late July North Texas sun, State Rep. Rick Noriega spoke of the benefits of using solar panels to offset the rising price of energy.

The Houston Democrat is challenging Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in November.

Standing in front of a house in southwest Wichita Falls, Noriega spoke of the advantages of using alternative energies.

''It produces more energy than it needs,” Noriega said as he pointed out the house's solar energy production actually added energy to the electricity grid.

''It receives credits for what it puts back into the grid,” Noriega said. ''And the cost of solar panels decreases by 4 percent every year.”

Noriega made a stop Wednesday in Wichita Falls as part of a longer campaign trip through North Texas.

Both candidates in the senate race have seized on energy as a campaign issue as oil prices have sent gas prices soaring in the past month.

Noriega's energy plan is similar to his opponent's. Both hark on the need for more energy self-sufficiency by using more renewable energies, such as wind and solar and biomass.

Both support drilling for oil in offshore areas that are currently off limits. However, Noriega said he supports offshore drilling as long as there are some restrictions.

''Any additional oil extracted needs to be used domestically and not exported,” said Noriega, who also said that he shares Republican presidential hopeful John McCain's position on oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Federal Reserve.

''It is a federal sanctuary that would take 10 years to produce oil,” he said

His plan also calls for more support for research and development of new energy technologies, which Noriega said will create more jobs and make way for entrepreneurship in the energy field.

''We want to retool the research and development and support more investment in companies which seek more renewable energies,” he said. ''The collateral businesses that will be created as a result will create new jobs in the state.”

Noriega, a lieutenant colonel in the Army National Guard, also said that dependence on foreign oil is a strain on national security.

He emphasized that instead of drilling in the ANWR, a larger focus should be placed on the current operating oil fields and their production.

There, Noriega advocates maximizing output from current oil fields by requiring oil companies to drill or give up the leases they have on 68 million acres of undeveloped federal land.

''Washington politicians have created a false sense of hope, as if drilling in the federal reserve is a magic spigot,” Noriega said.

Cornyn is dominating Noriega in fundraising and in the polls. The latest campaign disclosure reports show the Republican incumbent with $9.4 million in cash. Noriega had $916,000.

In addition, the latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in Texas found the incumbent leading Democratic state legislator Noriega by double digits, 48 percent to 35 percent.

But Noriega said that he did not see the disparity in campaign funds as a roadblock.

''If an election was solely based on money, perhaps there shouldn't be any elections,” he smiled.

Noriega said he hopes his candidacy appeals to the common Texan, as he believes that his opponent has been tainted by what he called ''Washington politics.”

''What we believe is standing up for Texas families and their values,” said Noriega. ''Not for HMOs or oil companies. That is not the tradition of the great state of Texas.”

Link to article

U.S. Senate candidate Rick Noriega calls for wind, solar power in all Texas homes by 2019

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

By Dave Levinthal
The Dallas Morning News

Democratic Senate candidate Rick Noriega called Tuesday for all Texas households to get their electricity by renewable energy resources, such as wind and solar power, by 2019.

Mr. Noriega insisted, however, that such a goal wouldn't entail shuttering the state's coal, nuclear and natural gas-fired power plants, which account for the vast majority of Texas' electricity generation.

"Those plants are going to continue to be in use for a whole variety of other uses," Mr. Noriega said during a news conference outside Dallas City Hall. Such plants could be used for petroleum products, plastics and manufacturing needs, he said.

Mr. Noriega said Texas' energy security is incumbent on moving from nonrenewable energy sources – particularly fossil fuels from "unstable" foreign nations – to American-generated renewable sources.

The U.S. must also increase fuel efficiency standards, invest in renewable energy development and improve the electricity distribution system – goals that Mr. Noriega says his opponent, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, hasn't prioritized or has actively fought against.

Mr. Noriega also said the U.S. must seek to stem high energy prices by requiring oil companies to maximize output on federal land leased for drilling and legalizing offshore oil drilling, a fairly uncommon position for a Democrat. President Bush has rescinded the offshore ban, but a congressional moratorium remains.

Mr. Noriega does not, however, support drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, which is believed to contain significant oil deposits.

Mr. Cornyn's campaign dismissed Mr. Noriega's energy plan as unrealistic.

"The sad truth is Rick Noriega is against many mainstream solutions that will put America on the path to a comprehensive energy plan," Mr. Cornyn's campaign manager Rob Jesmer wrote in a statement.

Link to article

The Bottomline about Health Care

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

For immediate release:
July 1, 2008
Contact: Holly Shulman (713) 621-7425

Please see the enclosed oped by Rep. Rick Noriega, candidate for U.S. Senate:

The Bottomline about Health Care
By Rep. Rick Noriega

In Texas, each night the parents of more than a million children go to sleep praying that their child does not wake up sick because they don't have health insurance.

I believe that everyone should have access to quality, affordable health care. It's an outrage that insurance companies are making record profits while too many Americans struggle to pay for the spiraling costs of health care. Families and businesses are feeling the strain of a health care system that costs too much, covers too few, and has all the wrong priorities.

And I have a plan. I support guaranteed coverage through partnerships between the federal government, states, employers, and private health care providers. Working together is the only way we can make health care work. Health care reform must modernize the health care system and contain costs by prioritizing preventive care, reducing administrative costs, reducing insurance overhead, and allowing the federal government to negotiate lower pharmaceutical prices.

And I've fought this fight before. I voted to give doctors the right to collectively bargain with health plans to keep costs down.

I voted to make sure school districts could give health care to students and their families, providing for disease prevention and addressing the health threats specific to the school district.

I voted to eliminate health disparities and health access disparities in Texas among multicultural, disadvantaged and regional populations.

I voted for a state prescription drug program for low-income and disabled workers.

In the Texas House, I sponsored a bill that expanded Texas' Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to cover more children. When I'm your U.S. Senator I will vote to expand the Children's Health Insurance Program to cover all children of working families who can't afford it.

Some decisions are very difficult. Parents shouldn't have to choose between paying their child's health care bill or paying their monthly mortgage.

But some decisions are easy. On Election Day you will have a clear choice between more of the same failed policies that prioritize insurance company profits over our children, or new leadership that has the experience, the record and the political will to make real changes for your family, for Texas and for America.

I promise to put your children first every day that I represent you in Washington.

(Rick Noriega, a Democrat who has represented his Houston district in the Texas House since 1999, is running for the U.S. Senate seat held by John Cornyn.)

La Realidad de el Seguro Medico

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Para distribución inmediata
2 de Julio, 2008
Contacte a:
Holly Shulman
(713) 621-7425

Favor de leer el siguiente comunicado escrito por el Representante Rick Noriega, candidato al Senado de los Estados Unidos.

La Realidad de el Seguro Médico.
Por: Rick Noriega.

Cada noche en Texas, los padres de mas de un millón de niños rezan para que sus hijos no amanezcan enfermos puesto que no tienen seguro medico.

Yo creo firmemente que todos deben tener acceso garantizado a servicios de salud que sean accesibles y de alta calidad. Es una verdadera pena que las compañias de seguros estén registrando ganancias históricas mientras que nuestras familias están batallando para poder lograr pagar los alarmantes costos de los servicios de salud. Tanto como las familias como los negocios privados están sintiendo la enorme presión causada por un sistema de salud el cual cuesta demasiado, cubre muy poco y tiene todas las prioridades equivocadas.

Yo tengo un plan. Yo apoyo un sistema de cobertura garantizada a través de la colaboración de el gobierno federal, los estados, los empleadores, y los proveedores privados de servicios médicos. Trabajando juntos es la única manera de lograr que el sistema de salud funcione. La reforma de salud debe modernizar el sistema de seguros, debe minimizar los costos al hacer prioridad los servicios de salud preventivos, debe de reducir los costos administrativos, al igual que los costos de el seguro y debe permitir que el gobierno federal negocie a favor de reducir el precio de los farmaceuticos.

Yo he luchado esta batalla. Como miembro de la Cámara de Representantes de Texas, yo vote a favor de otorgar a los médicos el derecho a negociar colectivamente con los programas de salud para lograr mantener los costos de salud bajos.

Vote para asegurarme de que los distritos escolares pudieran dar servicios médicos a los estudiantes y familias, proporcionando fondos para la preevencion de enfermedades y atendiendo los riesgos de salud particulares a cada distrito escolar.

Vote para eliminar la desigualdad de servicios de salud en Texas la cual existe en grupos multiculturales y poblaciones desfavorecidas en distintas regiones de el estado.

Vote a favor de un programa estatal de medicamentos para trabajadores incapacitados y de bajo ingreso.

En la Cámara de Representantes, patrocine una propuesta legislativa la cual expandió la cobertura de el Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) para incluir a una mayor cantidad de niños. Cuando yo sea su Senador en la Legislatura de los Estados Unidos de América yo votare a favor de la expansión de el CHIP para que todos los niños hijos de familias que no tienen los recursos para pagar un seguro medico puedan tener cobertura.

Hay algunas decisiones que son difíciles. Pero ningún padre debería tener que escoger entre pagar la cuenta de los servicios médicos de su hijo o hacer el pago mensual de su hogar.

Pero también hay decisiones faciles. El día de las elecciones tu tendrás una clara opción entre las mismas políticas fallidas que le han dado mas importancia a las compañias de seguros que a nuestros niños, o un nuevo liderazgo, el cual viene con la experiencia, el record y la conviccion y voluntad política necesarias para lograr un cambio real en tu vida, la vida de tu familia, para Texas y para los Estados Unidos de América.

Yo te prometo tener a tus hijos como mi prioridad desde el primero hasta el ultimo dia que sea tu representante en Washington.

(Rick Noriega es un Demócrata el cual ha representado a su distrito de Houston en la Cámara de Representantes de Texas desde 1999 y esta contendiendo por el Senado de los Estados Unidos de América en contra de John Cornyn)

Noriega stumps in nation's least populated county

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Associated Press

Democrat Rick Noriega is campaigning this week in counties so small, his entourage may be bigger than the crowds.

The Senate candidate, facing incumbent Republican John Cornyn in the fall, is putting in some serious miles from his hometown of Houston to the most remote corners of West Texas.

It will culminate with a Fourth of July parade in El Paso, but it began in Kermit in Winkler County, population 7,000. Then it was on to Loving County, the nation's least populous county with 60 people.

He's also making stops in Reeves, Pecos, Brewster and Ward counties, none of them with more than 16,000 people total.

Noriega said the rural swing was designed to show he's campaigning in all of Texas's 254 counties.

Even the itty bitty ones.

"Every vote counts and every Texan matters," Noriega said

Twenty-one people cast primary votes in Loving County in the March primary, and perennial candidate Gene Kelly won. But the good news for Noriega? No one voted Republican.

Cornyn, meanwhile, spent the day in Big D.

At a Dallas gas station, Cornyn talked up his attempt to pass legislation to allow for offshore oil exploration.

Noriega did manage to squeeze in one stop that everyone makes in small towns -- the Dairy Queen for a dipped cone and tropical Blizzard.

"This is Melissa's birthday vacation," Noriega said of his wife.

Link to article

Noriega Offers Economic Ideas

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

R.G. Ratcliffe
Houston Chronicle

Rick Noriega, a state lawmaker from Houston, is the Democratic U.S. Senate nominee. He spoke at the Texas Democrats' state convention this weekend in Austin. Houston Chronicle reporter R.G. Ratcliffe asked him about his race against incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, who will be interviewed in next Sunday's Q&A.

Q: Texas so far has avoided the national economic downswing, but with interest rates dropping and gas prices rising, the state may not be far behind. What can the federal government do to stabilize the economy at this moment in time? With rising gasoline prices, should the nation adopt a gas tax holiday?

A: I disagree that Texas has avoided an economic downswing as people continually share their financial troubles with me as I travel across the state. We can start to revive our economy by bringing our troops home from Iraq. The war in Iraq is costing this country $12 billion per month, and that is too high a price to pay as we police a civil war. We need to pull that money out of the mire that is Iraq and spend that money at home.

The skyrocketing cost of crude oil is being driven by growing demand in the emerging markets of India and China, the free market activities of speculators, and, most importantly, by instability in the largest oil-producing regions of the world, which the current leadership has contributed to by its bungling of foreign policy.

The gas tax holiday is a gimmick that would solve few significant pricing problems, and, like the war, is based on a pay-later strategy. The best long-term solution to the gas crisis is to invest in renewable energy.

Q: Should there be a windfall-profits tax on U.S. energy companies? And should we explore for oil in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge and on the outer continental shelf?

A: The five biggest oil companies in the world made $36 billion in profits in the first three months of this year. If they continue at this rate, they are set to make $144 billion in profits by the end of the year.

These companies were set to make profits when oil was at $65 per barrel, but with the price of crude breaking $130 per barrel, they are now enjoying record-breaking windfall profits.

For years, renewable energy has remained a fringe option because this administration and incumbents in Congress remain beholden to the lobbying power of the oil companies. We need investment in renewable energy technology to make it viable on a large scale, and to make it a more stable and potent source of energy. We need an environment in which investing in renewable energy is incentivized.

We cannot drill our way out of our energy problems. We cannot solely rely on piecemeal transitional measures like drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge. We need to make a commitment to renewable energy now for the energy independence for future generations. Our national security depends on it.

Q: Should funding for the war in Iraq be restricted until a deadline for withdrawal of troops is set? Should we maintain permanent military bases in Iraq? Please, explain your answer.

A: Funding should not be restricted. I would never cut off soldiers, but I think we need to put timetables on withdrawal from Iraq. We need to give our troops the resources they need to do their job, something the current administration has not done in the past. The real problem is not with funding but with the lack of leadership.

Efforts to establish permanent bases in Iraq would make U.S. interests in Iraq and throughout the Middle East less secure.

Q: A recent FBI inspector general's report said agents at one time kept a "war crimes" file on military personnel and CIA agents who used tactics that could be described as torture on suspects. Would you favor a U.S. war crimes tribunal that would investigate allegations of torture and prosecute violators?

A: No. If any laws were broken, they should be handled by the Department of Defense and the Department of Justice in line with current procedures and prosecuted accordingly. Torture and similar tactics are unacceptable.

Q: As a Texas legislator you sponsored a bill to give in-state tuition to the children of illegal immigrants. Why is this a good policy, and doesn't it encourage continued illegal immigration? And should the Constitution be amended to deny automatic citizenship status to children born in this country of illegal immigrants?

A: No. To suggest that this policy would encourage continued illegal immigration, considering all the economic pressures driving this problem, is ludicrous. The best investment we can make is in our children's education. I favor tax breaks for middle-class families burdened with rising tuition costs and increased financial aid opportunities for all Texans.

And no, we should not be amending our most important founding document.

Q: Should illegal immigrants be required to leave the country to apply for re-entry as a condition of gaining citizenship status?

A: The immigration problem in this country deserves comprehensive reform. The incumbent junior senator has filed legislation to impose a "touchback" provision, sending 12 million people underground. This is not a viable solution.

We need a comprehensive plan that devotes more resources to recruiting border patrol agents and local law enforcement.

This country needs workers, and we need a process that recognizes who they are, why they're here, what they are doing and that allows them to pay taxes. Any bad actors should not be allowed to stay in the country.

Q: A variety of tax cuts enacted under President Bush are set to expire in coming years. Which would you vote to extend, and which would you allow to expire?

A: The Bush tax cuts have been about rewarding a select few. This reliance on trickle-down economics continues to hurt the middle class. The Bush tax cuts have coincided with massive federal spending. While the incumbent has been in office, the national debt has climbed to $9.4 trillion.

We have to get back to fiscal responsibility and balancing our budget.

r.g.ratcliffe@chron.com
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

Link to full article

Noriega rips Cornyn's vote against more veteran benefits

Thu, 29 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700

By Alan Bernstein
Houston Chronicle

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Rick Noriega lashed Republican incumbent John Cornyn at a Houston news conference today over Cornyn's recent vote against a bill to expand benefits for military veterans.

Cornyn, however, said he favors what he calls a more effective version.

"We should be appalled and enraged as Texans and as patriots at his behavior on the Senate floor," Noriega, a state House member from Houston, said on the main campus of the University of Houston, which he attended.

Noriega recalled that veterans lived in trailers on the UH campus many years ago while getting a college education funded by the GI Bill.

Cornyn and presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain last week were on the losing side [of] a 70-22 Senate vote for the benefits package, which would pay education costs for National Guard and miltary reserve veterans who serve active duty and meet other requirements.

Cornyn, citing a study by the Congressional Budget Office, said the bill was irresponsible because the offer of such benefits would encourage military personnel to use them rather then re-enlist in armed forces units. The Bush administration has branded the bill as too expensive.

Noriega, a National Guard lieutentant colonel who served in Afghanistan, said he, rather than Cornyn, knows from working with reservists that any new benefits have nothing to do with their re-enlistment choices.

Instead, he said, the personnel choose to end their service because they already have served multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan and want to ease the toll on their families.

Noriega said Cornyn supports a "half-step, double-talk" version of the bill that would not give reservists full educational benefits after serving active duty.

The senator disagrees, saying the bill he favors not only would cover the full cost of public university tuition in Texas but also encourage extended service by pegging benefits to the number of years in the military and allowing the benefits to transfer to spouses and children.

In an essay scheduled for publication on Friday's opinion/editorials page, Cornyn added that the bill he opposed "penalizes states like Texas by granting substantially expanded benefits to residents of states with higher (college) costs. In effect, our Texas taxpayers will be subsidizing states that do not support higher education as we do."

Noriega, standing on the campus with six war veterans of various generations, said it was "an absurd statement" that the bill costs too much while Cornyn and other senators vote for $165 billion in continued funding for the war.

The bill awaits approval in the House along with domestic spending legislation, and President Bush threatened to veto it.

Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison, Texas' other senator, voted for the expanded veterans' benefits bill.

alan.bernstein@chron.com

Link to article

Noriega will get time off from National Guard duties to speak at party convention

Tue, 27 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700

By Steve Taylor
RioGrandeGuardian.com

McALLEN, May 27 - U.S. Senate candidate Rick Noriega will be given time off from his duties with Texas Army National Guard so he can speak at the State Democratic Party Convention in Austin next month.

Noriega, a lieutenant colonel in the Texas Army National Guard and a state representative from Houston, also learned last week that the unit he is currently commanding, part of the 141st Infantry Regiment, will be deployed to the Middle East next year.

"I am going to be coming out of the field for a period of time, perhaps 24 or 48 hours, so that I can attend and speak at the State Democratic Party Convention," Noriega told the Guardian, after speaking at a Memorial Day Service at La Piedad Cemetery in McAllen on Monday. "I will come off orders for a period of time and then go back under another set of orders."

Noriega served as deputy garrison commander of the KMTC training facility in Kabul, Afghanistan for14 months in 2004 and 2005. He was also the Laredo Border Sector Commander in Operation Jump Start during the summer of 2006.

His job right now, he said, is preparing his troops for military combat in the Middle East next year. He said he cannot divulge where they will be going or where in Texas they will be training. "My job right now is to get them ready to go. The guys are going through their paces. There's a lot of the preliminary work to do for pre-mobilization."

Noriega will likely not have to go to the Middle East himself. He is slated for either mandatory retirement or promotion to colonel.

Noriega was invited to give the keynote speech at the Memorial Day service by Homer Gallegos, commander of VFW Post 8788 in McAllen. "Tell him he has been drafted, I told his people," Gallegos joked.

Noriega was introduced by state Rep. Juan Escobar, D-Kingsville, a Vietnam War veteran and a close personal friend. Escobar said the stories Noriega brought back from Afghanistan were very different from his recollections of Vietnam.

"Mr. Noriega has always been a fighter for the underprivileged," Escobar said. "He believes in what America is all about. He is a true patriot. He is dedicated to his mission."

In his speech, Noriega said "loyalty, duty, selfless service, respect, honor, integrity, and personal courage" are the hallmarks of those who serve. Added to that, he said, is the "Warrior Ethos" of always placing the mission first, of never accepting defeat, and never leaving a fellow comrade behind. He said those values are ingrained in soldiers.

However, another compelling reason those in the military so often do extraordinary heroic things, Noriega said, is simply to help their buddies to the front, rear and side. "You do it for someone you love and respect, so they can come home to their families, their communities," Noriega said.

Noriega said some in his brigade in Afghanistan never made it home. As a result, the needs of those families are not forgotten by their comrades, he said. "It's not about photo opportunities, it is not about remembering this one day," Noriega said. "It's really a way of life. It is remembering those who have fallen each and every day." He then repeated himself to underline the point. "Each and every day."

Noriega later told the Guardian that he really did not need to stress the importance of service and self-sacrifice in the Rio Grande Valley. He pointed to the 30 or more soldiers from the region that have died in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"It's always good to be back in the Valley. I have a lot of friends here. There is an affinity here," Noriega said. "It's camaraderie, a brotherhood and a sisterhood that you cannot explain. It's inseparable. It's that care and compassion, that band of brothers that lasts a lifetime."

Gallegos agreed. "I asked Lt. Col. Noriega to come down in his capacity as a soldier, not a politician. He can connect with our people. There's not another area in the country that can compete with our patriotism, as you can see today," Gallegos said.

About 250 people, many of them veterans and their families attended the Memorial Day service at La Piedad Cemetery. Emilio De Los Santos, Hidalgo County's veterans' services administrator, acted as master of ceremonies. The Raising of the Flag was performed by U.S. Army Major (Ret.) Thomas W. Oaks, and the invocation, blessing, and closing prayer was given by Deacon Alex Gamboa, of St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church.

McAllen veteran Ramiro Salazar said attending Memorial Day services at La Piedad Cemetery was, in his opinion, more enjoyable than others in the Valley because the setting is more intimate. "It is a unique setting and they always have good speakers," he said.

Salazar, who served his country between the Korean and Vietnam Wars, lights a red candle every day for his son, U.S. Army Maj. Ramiro Salazar, who is currently serving in Iraq. He showed the Guardian a news release from Balad, Iraq, which mentioned 140 "criminal elements" surrendering to U.S. forces on May 22. His son was quoted in the release. "It says those surrendering just want peace, that they are tired of fighting. I hope there is more of this to follow," Salazar said.

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Texas needs two senators who will back our veterans

Sun, 25 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700

By State Rep. Rick Noriega
Houston Chronicle

John Cornyn failed to stand up for our troops -- I will

Last Thursday, the U.S. Senate passed Sen. Jim Webb's, D-Va., expanded version of the GI Bill, ensuring educational benefits for all service members, including activated National Guard and Reservists who serve at least three months of active duty after 9/11.

Called the bipartisan Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Act, this legislation is of vital necessity for the brave men and women who protect our nation every day, and I applaud the Senate's decision to support the bill. I was able to attend the University of Houston largely due to the assistance of a scholarship provided by the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC), so I understand firsthand the importance of providing higher education funding for our troops. My experience with ROTC began my three-decade-long career of serving this country in our nation's armed forces, and every moment of those years has been an honor and a privilege.

Today is Memorial Day, and I can think of no more fitting tribute to commemorate those who serve in the armed forces than the ratification of this new GI Bill.

As a veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, I have seen countless acts of valor and heroism performed by our troops. They risk their lives for us daily, asking nothing in return but the benefits they have been promised. The Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Act was proposed by Sen. Webb as a means of protecting and increasing the educational benefits for those who have served in the military since Sept. 11, 2001. Like the GI Bill enacted after World War II, this 21st century GI Bill will ensure that our soldiers are able to pursue the American Dream for which they have put their lives on the line to defend.

One of the most important economic policies of the 20th century was the original GI Bill. That first bill has been credited with creating the modern middle class. With the educational benefits offered to them, millions of returning war veterans were able to become doctors, teachers, scientists, engineers, lawyers and artists. The Post- 9/11 Veterans Educational Act will restore benefits to what they once were, boost the economy for everyone and allow another generation of American soldiers to achieve their goals.

Today's veterans deserve the same sort of benefit that World War II veterans enjoyed. It's not only good for the troops and their families, it's good for our nation as a whole, strengthening our economy and our military recruitment.

Unfortunately, my opponent, Sen. John Cornyn, failed to stand up for our troops. Cornyn was one of only 22 senators to vote against the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Act, continuing his history of turning his back on veterans. Adding insult to injury, Cornyn went so far as to condone and encourage a presidential veto of the bill. Webb's GI Bill passed with the support of 75 senators, including Texas' senior Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison.

Texas needs two senators fighting for our veterans and our families. It is reprehensible that Cornyn supports keeping our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan but refuses to provide for our soldiers once they return home. As a public servant, as a soldier and as a Texan, I am ashamed of Cornyn's continued efforts to deny our troops the benefits they earned defending the United States.

Sen. Cornyn argues that financing higher education for veterans would encourage soldiers to leave the military to attend college. The notion that we should limit benefits to force our troops to stay in the military is morally repugnant. The knowledge I gained while attending college is instrumental in the work I do as a member of the Texas House of Representatives and as a lieutenant colonel in the Texas Army National Guard. I believe that higher education should be a reality for any American who wants it, and I am disheartened by Cornyn's desire to deny this valuable right to the honorable men and women of the armed forces. A stronger GI Bill will help military recruitment, attracting America's most capable and gifted volunteers to the military during a time when we need more troops than ever.

While we take today to honor the sacrifices made by the American soldiers who put their lives on the line to protect this nation, let us not forget their dedication and sacrifice every day of the year. Our armed forces deserve our support while they are in service to America and after they return home.

We call these young men and women the "next greatest generation," and given the opportunity to represent Texas in the U.S. Senate, I will do everything in my power to make sure they are treated that way.

Noriega, a Democrat who has represented his eastside Houston district in the Texas House since 1999, is running for the U.S. Senate seat held by John Cornyn.

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Noriega tours East Texas

Fri, 16 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Jessica Sepulvado
Marshall News Messenger

U.S. Senate candidate Rick Noriega was quick to emphasize his number one goal if elected -- bringing American soldiers home from Iraq -- at a press conference Friday in Marshall. Noriega, who has also made stops in Texarkana, Longview, Daingerfield and Wood County during his trip to East Texas, is in town to ride in today's Stagecoach Days Heritage Festival parade. He will also host a Hot Dog Social for voters after the parade in the parking lot of the Jones and Roth Law Firms, 115 N. Wellington St.

According to the latest polls, Noriega is four percentage points behind Sen. John Cornyn.

"It's very encouraging, yet we still have a lot of work to do," Noriega said.

Noriega also cites his military experience as a means to accomplishing his goal.

"For almost 30 years, I have had the great honor of serving our country in our nation's armed forces. As a veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Lieutenant Colonel in the Texas Army National Guard, I have seen the tremendous sacrifices our men and women in uniform have made for our country," Noriega stated in a recent e-mail. "That's why, in the Texas Legislature, I worked for our troops by helping members of the Texas National Guard obtain federal health services and by making college more affordable for our veterans.

"I spearheaded legislation to create a database of resources for military personnel seeking benefits promised, and passed legislation to waive fees for veterans at Texas colleges."

Noriega also plans to give veterans "a health care system worthy of their services."

Number two on the Texas State Representative's to-do list is to get the economy back on track.

He plans to push for bills pumping money into health care and road construction in order to employ people to stimulate the economy.

Noriega was also very clear on the main difference between Sen. Cornyn and himself.

He explained that he was to take his orders directly from the people of Texas to Washington. Noriega stated that Sen. Cornyn does the opposite: takes his orders from Washington to the people.

As the largest producer of natural gas, the state needs an "energy leader" in Washington, Noriega said. "I want to aggressively push for the use of natural gas and the addition of 'green' jobs in the state."

"We can't drill ourselves out of the issue," he added. "We have taken our eye off the ball, and now we are suffering for it."

Noriega also expressed concern about rising food prices.

"People say to me that they never thought they'd have to pay $2 for a dozen eggs," he said. "People have to decide whether they want to turn on their air conditioners or eat, and that reflects the issues that are going on.

"That's why I'm going county to county and door to door to ask personally for the citizens of Texas to put me in (the U.S. Senate)," Noriega said.

This East Texas summer is going to be very important," he added. "I'm getting to meet and learn all the needs of the people. That way, I can hopefully go to work for them soon."

Link to full article

Sen. Cornyn Faces Unique Democratic Opponent

Sun, 11 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700

For decades Texas has been a very red state. But, incumbent Republican Sen. John Cornyn could be vulnerable this fall if a recent poll is accurate. Cornyn is facing a largely unknown but unique Democratic opponent.

Click here to watch the video

Bound by war, families gather

Sat, 10 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700

By Jason Buch

Laredo Morning Times

The families of soldiers deployed overseas have a special bond, Diana Rodriguez said. Rodriguez, whose husband, 1st Sgt. Ezequiel Rodriguez, is serving with the 436th Chemical Co. in Afghanistan, helped organize a Mother's Day celebration for the families of the company's soldiers who are overseas.

"Even though it's an emotional time for a lot of families, we all have a common thread," she said. "We know what each other are feeling."

The families gathered Friday night at the Laredo Texas National Guard Armory, 5119 Bob Bullock Loop, for the celebration.

The crowd heard from speakers, watched a slide show of their loved ones and ate dinner.

One of the speakers was Rep. Rick Noriega, D-Houston, Texas' Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate.

Noriega served a tour of duty in Afghanistan in 2004 and 2005 and was the commander of the guard's Operation Jumpstart in Laredo during the summer of 2007.

Noriega read a letter from his wife, Melissa, and told the crowd he and his family know how it feels being separated from family members. [To read the text of the letter, view the 5/12/08 Noriega blog entry here.]

"We went through the same experience you're going through right now," he said.

Noriega said he recognized some of the soldiers in the slide show from his time in Laredo.

"I feel like I have a duty to be here and tell them we're here for them," he said.

The event was organized by the local chapter of the Texas Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve Committee.

The committee's primary function is to protect the jobs of guardsmen and reservists who are deployed, said ESGR Area 13 Chairman Adolfo "Popo" Gonzalez.

One of the goals of Friday's event was to help the mothers and wives of soldiers in Afghanistan take their mind off their worries during the Mother's Day weekend, Gonzalez said.

"We're just having families come together so we can tell them they're part of the 436th family," he said.

Gonzalez served with the company for more than 30 years. His son, Adolfo Gonzalez Jr., is a supply sergeant for the unit in Afghanistan.

The company has been in Afghanistan for about four months, Gonzalez said. He said some of the soldiers are expected to be home on leave this summer.

The company is scheduled to return in December or January, Gonzalez said.

(Jason Buch may be reached at 728-2547 or by e-mail at jbuch@lmtonline.com)

Link to full article

Lake Research Partners Memo on Latest Rasmussen Poll

Tue, 06 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700

To: Interested Parties
From: Celinda Lake, Bob Meadow, and Joshua Ulibarri
Date: May 5, 2005
Subject: Recent News In Texas' Race for the United State Senate

Recent Rasmussen Reports polling¹ confirms the changing dynamics in the Texas Senate race, placing Senator John Cornyn squarely among the most vulnerable Republican incumbents. Rasmussen's recent statewide survey among 500 likely voters shows Cornyn below 50% and leading by just single digits. Cornyn receives the support of 47% of likely voters while Democratic challenger Rick Noriega has the support of 43%.

This data confirms that the trends in Texas point toward an upset win this year. We witnessed these trends as early as last November^2, when only 31% of voters were in favor of reelecting Cornyn compared to 69% who would vote to replace him or consider someone else. Only 36% thought he was doing an excellent or good job, compared to 41% who said he was doing a just fair or poor job.

More than one million voters supported Noriega during the primary (1,108,318). In fact, in the four-way Democratic primary, Noriega received over one-hundred thousand more votes than Senator Cornyn received in his two-way Republican primary (1,108,318 for Noriega compared to 994,222 votes for Cornyn). In further proof of the increased energy around Democratic candidates, in March almost three million voters participated in the Democratic Primary (2,868,454), more than three times the number that voted in the 2004 presidential primary (839,231).

The news gets better, and the trends become clearer. Just last month, we conducted focus groups across the state among undecided voters. At the end of each group, these undecided voters moved overwhelmingly toward Noriega. Out of 60 participants we picked up 54 votes. In that environment, where Noriega could be competitive with Cornyn on television, voters were persuaded to move to the Democrat and help flip this seat.

Cornyn's profile is weak and relatively undefined as it stands now. He is vulnerable to an assertive and sustained message campaign. But, Rick Noriega -- an appealing Democrat with a unique profile that works in Texas -- needs the ammunition to take the fight to Cornyn now.

¹ This telephone survey of 500 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports May 1, 2008. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 4 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.
² Lake Research Partners designed and administered this survey, which was conducted by phone using professional interviewers. The survey was conducted among 500 registered voters in Texas who are likely to vote in the 2008 General Election. The survey was conducted November 13-18, 2007. The margin of error for the full sample is +/-4.4 percentage points.

Click here to download the memo as a PDF.

FOX TV | RasmussenReports: Texas Senate: Cornyn 47% Noriega 43%

Mon, 05 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700

MyFox Austin

It's time to add United States Senator John Cornyn to the list of potentially vulnerable Republican incumbents in Election 2008. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state find Cornyn leading Democratic state legislator Rick Noriega by just four percentage points, 47% to 43%.

Any incumbent who polls below 50% is considered potentially vulnerable. That is especially true when a little known challenger is so competitive in an early general election match-up. The race for President in Texas is also fairly competitive early in Election 2008.

Noreiga leads among voters earning less than $40,000 a year. Cornyn leads among those with higher incomes. Cornyn leads among Evangelical Christian voters and other Protestants. Noreiga leads among those with a different faith background. Both candidates do well within their own party and are fairly evenly matched among unaffiliated voters.

Democrats are likely to expand their majority in the Senate this year by picking up several Senate seats currently held by the GOP. Early polling indicates that many states offer potential Democratic gains including: Virginia, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Colorado, Minnesota, Oregon and Alaska.

Cornyn is viewed favorably by 50% of the state's likely voters, unfavorably by 37%.

Noreiga earns positive reviews from 45% and negative assessments from 39%.

Thirty-four percent (34%) of voters say the state's Republican Governor, Rick Perry, is doing a good or excellent job. Twenty-eight percent (28%) say he is doing a poor job.

President George W. Bush doesn't do as well. Just 39% of voters in his adopted home state say that the President has done a good or an excellent job. Forty-five percent (45%) rate his performance as poor.

This telephone survey of 500 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports May 1, 2008. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 4 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.

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Noriega, citing U.S. deaths in Iraq, stills Web site

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0700

By W. Gardner Selby
Austin American-Statesman

Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Rick Noriega, a lieutenant colonel in the Texas National Guard, takes special exception to the United States reaching the milestone of 4,000 soldiers who have died in what he calls the "misguided war in Iraq."

Noriega, a Houston state representative, put his Web site out of action for 24 hours "to call attention to the failed policies that led us into war and kept us there with no plan for getting out."

His site includes a link (here) to a Washington Post list of Texans who have died in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, shows no war-related changes on his site.

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Noriega tops Democratic field to challenge Cornyn this fall

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Associated Press

State Representative Rick Noriega vanquished three Democratic primary competitors to advance to November's general election against U.S. Sen. John Cornyn.

The Texas National Guard lieutenant colonel, who spent 14 months in Afghanistan, avoided a runoff by winning about 51 percent of the vote with almost all precincts reporting. Cornyn easily defeated consultant Larry Kilgore in the Republican primary.

Perennial candidate Gene Kelly garnered 27 percent of the vote without campaigning at all, capitalizing instead on the name he shares with the song-and-dance star of the 1940s and '50s.

Corpus Christi high school teacher Ray McMurrey ran a spunky outsider campaign, even getting Noriega to agree to a debate. But he earned only 12 percent of the vote. Rhett Smith, another perennial candidate, won 10 percent of the vote.

Noriega and McMurrey promised to withdraw American troops from Iraq. McMurrey said he'd bring the troops home within 15 months. Noriega, a Houston Democrat, hasn't committed to a timetable other than to say he wants to immediately begin removing troops from combat.

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Noriega leads Democratic U.S. Senate race

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0800

By John Moritz
Star-Telegram.com

AUSTIN -- Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Rick Noriega, riding his record as a five-term lawmaker and veteran of the war in Afghanistan, was building a big lead in the state's most populous counties Tuesday, but it was unclear in early voting as to whether he would win the outright majority needed to avoid a runoff.

Trailing in second place appeared to be perennial candidate Gene Kelly, a retired Army lawyer, in the early returns. Two other candidates were running far behind. Whoever finally emerges as the Democratic nominee will face first-term US Sen. John Cornyn, who was coasting to victory against little-known and underfunded Larry Kilgore of Mansfield in the Republican primary.

On the stump and in his campaign material, Noriega, 50, never missed an opportunity to remind Democratic primary voters of his military service. As a lieutenant colonel in the Army National Guard, he served 14 months as a National Guard officer in Afghanistan, which caused him to miss the 2005 legislative session. A year later, he served with his Guard unit on the Texas border assisting local law enforcement agencies.

Noriega, who represents a working-class state House district in Houston, enjoyed the backing of many Democratic Party leaders including former Gov. Dolph Briscoe and former Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby.

Kelly, 81, who has run for several statewide offices with little or no campaigning, was the Democrats' standard bearer in the 2000 Senate race against popular Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison.

Two other candidates were also in the race.

Ray McMurrey, 42, is a cancer survivor and Corpus Christi school teacher who was making his first bid for elective office.

While lacking the big-name backing and financial resources available to a major candidate, McMurrey styled himself as a latter-day Mr. Smith going to Washington. He touted his life experience in the classroom and in working in low-income areas of the state as evidence that he could represent ordinary citizens in the nation’s capital.

San Antonio security officer Rhett Smith, 57, who has run several campaigns in both the Democratic and Republican primaries, warned voters that the United States' foreign policy is tied too closely with Israel.

John Moritz reports from the Star-Telegrams Austin bureau.

Link to full article

Democratic Senate candidate releases military records

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0800

By Suzanne Gamboa
Associated Press

Texas Democratic Senate candidate Rick Noriega posted his military records online Wednesday, saying he wanted to prevent Republicans from using them for political attacks.

The approximately 75 pages of records from his service in the National Guard and Texas Army National Guard detail his climb in rank, his training and military education and his work and commendations. They also include evaluations that gush about his abilities.

Noriega is in a four-way race for the Democratic nomination to challenge incumbent Republican Texas Sen. John Cornyn. Noriega faces Corpus Christi teacher Ray McMurrey and perennial candidates Gene Kelly and Rhett Smith in the March 4 primary.

The Republican Party of Texas had requested his records, but Noriega decided to release them publicly instead.

"We personally don't believe they had honorable intentions," Noriega said.

State GOP spokesman Hans Klingler issued a statement saying that Noriega had never talked about releasing his service records before the party asked for them and the Texas GOP is "proud to have played a part in making this happen."

Noreiga has made his military service a central theme of his campaign. He has used images of himself in camouflage in campaign materials and touted his experience in Afghanistan and on the Texas border as a member of the Guard. His campaign materials refer to him as Lt. Col. Noriega, rather than using his legislative title as a state representative.

But the experience of former Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry is still fresh to many candidates. The Swift Boat Veterans For Truth, a group bankrolled by Republicans such as Houston home builder Bob Perry and oilman T. Boone Pickens, criticized Kerry's war record in Vietnam in the 2004 campaign.

"There's not going to be any Swift Boating" because of Noriega's high marks, said Jon Soltz, cofounder and chairman of VoteVets.org, whose group endorsed Noriega. "It's not going to happen."

Noriega said his military experience would benefit him in the Senate because he understands what Texas veterans endure when they are deployed without proper equipment and don't get proper benefits and services when they return home.

Soltz criticized Cornyn for voting against a bill that would have guaranteed troops more time at home. "He (Noriega) is in touch with troops' opinions. Sen. Cornyn has sold them out on so many issues," Soltz said.

That drew an angry rebuke from Cornyn's campaign, which has regularly declined to comment on the race.

"Every single member of the United States Senate fully supports body armor for our troops and excellent health care for our veterans and Rick Noriega knows it," said Kevin McLaughlin, Cornyn's campaign spokesman. McLaughlin also released a long list of examples of Cornyn's support for veterans. He declined to comment on the content of Noriega's military records.

Within Noriega's records are evaluations that extol Noriega's management skills, attention to detail, integrity, hard work and potential for moving up in rank, among other things.

The records show Noriega, who entered the military as a second lieutenant, steadily climbed to the rank of lieutenant colonel. His superiors regularly recommended higher positions for him. Noriega is now an infantry battalion commander.

As a major, Noriega trained Afghanistan National Army battalion, or kandak, commanders and their staff, teaching Basic Combat Training. "MAJ Noriega made great strides in explaining basic training management to the (Afghanistan National Army) Officers, showing them by his example that initiative is critical to success," says an evaluation for the period he served in Afghanistan.

On the Net: Rick Noriega's military records: http://www.ricknoriega.com/news/press_releases?id0038

Link to article

Early Birds: D's outvoting R's More than 3 to 1; Lead in 14 of State's Largest 15 Counties

Sat, 23 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Texas is experiencing a tsunami of early voting that has no precedent. I have linked to the Secretary of State's Web site, which provides day-by-day election totals and an archive of early voting history in previous elections.

[...]

These numbers are so overwhelming, and the fifteen counties have such a large fraction of the state's registered voters -- 7,815,906 of 12,607,466, or 62% -- that what happens in other 239 counties is unlikely to alter the trend. These numbers have made me a believer. Rick Noriega could defeat John Cornyn. The Democrats can win a majority in the Texas House of Representatives. The consummate irony is that George W. Bush, who made Texas a Republican state on his way in to the presidency, may make it a Democratic state on his way out.

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Lufkin Daily News: Noriega is Texas Democrats' best hope to unseat Cornyn

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Lufkin Daily News

EDITORIAL: Senate Selections

Noriega is Texas Democrats' best hope to unseat Cornyn, a shoe-in for the Republican nomination

In a Republican state like Texas, the candidacy of any Democrat running for the U.S. Senate relies at least as much on hope as it does on credentials and message.

But Democrats have their hopes up this year because the GOP incumbent up for re-election, John Cornyn, 56, doesn't seem as popular as his Republican colleague, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. Also, the GOP in general seems to be on the defensive over a deeply unpopular war and a struggling economy.

Still, this race is a long shot for Democrats, who have not won a U.S. Senate race in Texas since Lloyd Bentsen did it in 1988.

Democrats in the March 4 primary have four choices in nominating a candidate to run in this fall's general election, and easily the most qualified is Rick Noriega of Houston, a state representative and Texas National Guard officer.

The other three candidates are Ray McMurrey, an earnest Corpus Christi government teacher; Rhett Smith, a San Antonio security guard who ran as a Republican for governor in 2006; and Gene Kelly, a Universal City retiree and perennial candidate.

Noriega, 50, is a native Texan. He grew up in Houston and is a graduate of the University of Houston. He later earned a master's degree in public administration from Harvard University. He served in the Army and remains a lieutenant colonel in the Texas National Guard. He has served in Afghanistan and on border duty at Laredo.

Given his military credentials, it's not surprising that Noriega is in a better position than most Democrats to criticize the war in Iraq, which he says is the "key issue for us nationally." He has made it the centerpiece of his campaign, calling for U.S. troops to be brought home — not all at once, but in a steady withdrawal. He also says that "best exit strategy is to change the commander-in-chief," President Bush.

Cornyn, in contrast, remains a supporter of the war and is closely identified with the Bush administration.

Ultimately, Noriega said, the outcome of the war in Iraq will depend on political solutions, not military.

The most important domestic issue, he says, is health care. He wants to guarantee coverage through partnerships between the federal government, states, employers and health care providers, starting with an expansion of the Children's Health Insurance Program. However, he declined to say at this point whether he favored Hillary Clinton's or Barack Obama's health care plan.

On immigration, Noriega has seen first-hand its impact on the border with Mexico and favors some sensible steps: securing borders and ports and providing a strict but achievable path to citizenship for those here illegally; penalizing employers who use illegal immigrants to drive down wages; and improving our system for admitting immigrants legally.

Noriega has stumbled at times, we think. He initially resisted a debate with McMurrey, but the two finally held one in Austin last week.

Nevertheless, Noriega remains the most qualified candidate in the Democratic field and deserves his party's nomination to run for the Senate this fall.

Link to article

Houston Chronicle endorses Rick Noriega

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Houston Chronicle

Primary endorsements
The Chronicle recommends these candidates for their party's nomination.

U.S. Senate, Democrat Rick Noriega -- A lieutenant colonel in the Texas Army National Guard, Noriega is a veteran of the war in Afghanistan. He served with distinction in the Texas Legislature for nine years and helped to manage the care of Hurricane Katrina victims evacuated to Houston.

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San Antonio Express-News: Noriega is Democrats' best pick in Senate race

Sun, 17 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0800

San Antonio Express-News

Noriega is Democrats' best pick in Senate race

Of the four Democrats vying for the party's nomination to the U.S. Senate, Rick Noriega is undoubtedly the best candidate.

A five-term member of the Texas House, Noriega also is an Army veteran and lieutenant colonel in the Texas Army National Guard.

Noriega, a Houstonian who served in Afghanistan for 14 months, has strong feelings about the war in Iraq and can capably voice the Democratic view of the Bush administration's handling of the situation. Noriega supports a "phased military redeployment" that moves U.S. troops from "Iraq's civil wars."

Additionally, Noriega supports an "earned" way for undocumented immigrants to come out of the shadows.

Noriega's opponents include two perennials -- Gene Kelly and Rhett Smith -- who don't merit serious consideration, and Ray McMurrey, a Corpus Christi high school teacher.

McMurrey is idealistic and energetic, but he lacks Noriega's preparation and acumen.

Noriega represents a more pragmatic option for Democrats in the November campaign to unseat Republican Sen. John Cornyn.

The veteran lawmaker has his eyes open about the difficult general election campaign ahead, and he is not likely to shy away from taking tough stances.

We recommend that Democrats nominate Noriega.

Link to article

Austin American-Statesman: Democrats Holding Out Hope

Sun, 17 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Austin American-Statesman

Democrats Holding Out Hope

In a Republican state like Texas, the candidacy of any Democrat running for the U.S. Senate relies at least as much on hope as it does on credentials and message.

But Democrats have their hopes up this year because the GOP incumbent up for re-election, John Cornyn, 56, doesn't seem as popular as his Republican colleague, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. Also, the GOP in general seems to be on the defensive over a deeply unpopular war and a struggling economy.

Still, this race is a long shot for Democrats, who have not won a U.S. Senate race in Texas since Lloyd Bentsen did it in 1988.

Democrats in the March 4 primary have four choices in nominating a candidate to run in this fall's general election, and easily the most qualified is Rick Noriega of Houston, a state representative and Texas National Guard officer.

The other three candidates are Ray McMurrey, an earnest Corpus Christi government teacher; Rhett Smith, a San Antonio security guard who ran as a Republican for governor in 2006; and Gene Kelly, a Universal City retiree and perennial candidate.

Noriega, 50, is a native Texan. He grew up in Houston and is a graduate of the University of Houston. He later earned a master's degree in public administration from Harvard University. He served in the Army and remains a lieutenant colonel in the Texas National Guard. He has served in Afghanistan and on border duty at Laredo.

Given his military credentials, it's not surprising that Noriega is in a better position than most Democrats to criticize the war in Iraq, which he says is the "key issue for us nationally." He has made it the centerpiece of his campaign, calling for U.S. troops to be brought home - not all at once, but in a steady withdrawal. He also says that "best exit strategy is to change the commander-in-chief," President Bush.

Cornyn, in contrast, remains a supporter of the war and is closely identified with the Bush administration.

Ultimately, Noriega said, the outcome of the war in Iraq will depend on political solutions, not military.

The most important domestic issue, he says, is health care. He wants to guarantee coverage through partnerships between the federal government, states, employers and health care providers, starting with an expansion of the Children's Health Insurance Program. However, he declined to say at this point whether he favored Hillary Clinton's or Barack Obama's health care plan.

On immigration, Noriega has seen first-hand its impact on the border with Mexico and favors some sensible steps: securing borders and ports and providing a strict but achievable path to citizenship for those here illegally; penalizing employers who use illegal immigrants to drive down wages; and improving our system for admitting immigrants legally.

Noriega has stumbled at times, we think. He initially resisted a debate with McMurrey, but the two finally held one in Austin last week.

Nevertheless, Noriega remains the most qualified candidate in the Democratic field and deserves his party's nomination to run for the Senate this fall.

Link to article

El Paso Times Endorses Rick

Sat, 16 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0800

El Paso Times

U.S. Senate: Cornyn, Noriega are choices

Democrats voting in the March 4 primary should choose Richard J. "Rick" Noriega as their candidate for U.S. Senate.

With the country engaged in war and El Paso so heavily involved with active duty military and veterans, we like that Noriega is a lieutenant colonel in the Texas National Guard and also a veteran legislator, now in his fifth term as Houston state rep in the Texas House.

He also has front-line experience with border security, serving as Laredo Border Sector Commander in the Guard and working with state, local and federal officials in cracking down on smuggling of both drugs and humans.

He also has fought for accessible and affordable health care -- a huge concern along the border -- and is a great proponent of alternative, renewable energy sources.

We recommend that Democrats vote for Rick Noriega.

Link to article

Dallas Morning News: We Recommend Rick Noriega

Fri, 15 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Dallas Morning News

We recommend

Rick Noriega as Democratic Senate nominee

Rick Noriega, a five-term state representative from Houston, wins our nod in the Democratic Senate primary. Mr. Noriega's legislative experience, military background and academic training easily make him the best candidate in the four-man Democratic field.

Ray McMurrey, 42, a Corpus Christi high school teacher, is Mr. Noriega's only serious opposition. He's bright, articulate and committed, but he lacks Mr. Noriega's broad base of experience.

The other opponents are Gene Kelly, perennial candidate and 81-year-old Universal City retiree, and Rhett Smith, 57, a San Antonio security guard who worries about Israel's nuclear weaponry.

Mr. Noriega has served in the Texas House since 1999 and knows how laws get made. Holding a Harvard master's degree in public administration is no hindrance, either.

This newspaper named Houston its 2005 Texan of the Year for the city's effective response to the Hurricane Katrina evacuee crisis. As Mayor Bill White's point man running the convention center shelter, Mr. Noriega deserves much of the credit.

He touts his military background, an impressive record of service. Mr. Noriega is a lieutenant colonel in the Texas Army National Guard, in which he's served for 28 years. In 2005, he completed a 14-month deployment to Afghanistan, which has made him a well-informed critic of U.S. policy there and strengthened his advocacy for veterans.

Having commanded Guard soldiers deployed to the Texas-Mexico border in 2006, Mr. Noriega intimately knows the difficulties of securing that area, which is partly why he backs comprehensive immigration reform. This is not just political theory for him.

The problem for Rick Noriega is that while he has a strong resume, he has trouble clearly articulating his positions and his vision. If he expects to have any success against incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, he needs to become as good in person as he is on paper.

Link to article

Austin Chronicle Endorses Rick Noriega

Fri, 15 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Austin Chronicle

U.S. Senate: Rick Noriega

Disastrous as the Bush administration has been, removing one of Dubya's biggest cheerleaders from the U.S. Senate will still be an uphill fight in our very conservative state. Should a Democrat unseat John Cornyn, it will be by the narrowest of margins. The only candidate who might actually reach that threshold is clearly Rick Noriega. Houstonian Noriega has experience both campaigning and passing legislation, and he has been elected to the Texas House five times. He also has a distinct qualification Cornyn does not: military experience. The Army vet and Texas Army National Guard lieutenant colonel did a stint in Afghanistan, as well as in operations on the Mexico border and in Houston during Hurricane Katrina. That should impress Texans who hold the military in high regard but are sick of the immoral and illegal Iraq war, which Noriega wants to end. Noriega's competitors can't match that background. Perennial candidates Rhett Smith and Gene Kelly are little more than hobbyists (in the case of the latter, a dangerous one). Ray McMurrey is more credible, but barely so. His candidacy is based on the notion that he is a progressive alternative to Noriega, but Noriega has in fact been a progressive vote for eight years – McMurrey himself has praised Noriega for having "a fine record in the Legislature on social issues." McMurrey criticizes Noriega's employment with an energy company as evidence that he lacks independence from corporate America, but no less than Public Citizen's Tom "Smitty" Smith has lauded Noriega for recusing himself from votes where there is a potential conflict of interest. There are certain races where a progressive purity test might be understandable, but a U.S. Senate seat from Texas is not among them. Democrats should pick Noriega as a realistic challenger capable of reaching beyond their own ranks and swaying the moderate middle that wants a palatable replacement for GOP incumbent Cornyn.

Link to article

Noriega, McMurrey square off in debate

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0800

By Kelley Shannon
Associated Press

Democratic U.S. Senate candidates Rick Noriega and Ray McMurrey each said he is the best candidate to take on incumbent Republican Sen. John Cornyn as the two Democrats faced off in a debate Wednesday night.

"I've answered this call to serve throughout my lifetime," said Noriega, a Houston state legislator, emphasizing his political and military experience and criticizing Cornyn as someone who doesn't truly represent Texans' interests.

McMurrey, a Corpus Christi school teacher, said he's the true reformer and that Noriega hasn't been a leader in health care reform or campaign finance reform.

"I am the citizen candidate, the teacher, the political scientist, ready to tell the truth to the American public," McMurrey said. "Our democracy cannot be for sale."

As they have in previous joint appearances, Noriega and McMurrey clashed early over the role of money in elections and both spoke of their desire to end the war in Iraq.

But McMurrey said he wants firm timetables for troop withdrawal, within 15 months, while Noriega didn't commit to a timetable other than to say he wants to begin immediately removing troops from combat.

This was their first head-to-head debate and was co-hosted by the University Democrats of the University of Texas at Austin and Keep Austin Blue. Karen Brooks of The Dallas Morning News and Eileen Smith of Texas Monthly moderated the debate.

With so much attention now focused on the presidential race in Texas, the already low-key Democratic Senate race is barely capturing the public's attention. But that interest in the presidential race could create unusually high Democratic turnout for the Senate race and others.

Noriega tries to capitalize on his military experience as a lieutenant colonel in the Texas Army National Guard who spent 14 months in Afghanistan.

McMurrey, who has never held political office, calls Noriega the favorite candidate of big money interests and vows to reform campaign finance.

Noriega keeps his criticism focused on Cornyn, the state's former attorney general who was elected to the Senate in 2002. Besides the advantage of incumbency in a Republican state, Cornyn has far more campaign money than either of the main Democratic candidates. Cornyn faces only minor opposition from consultant Larry Kilgore in his GOP primary.

Also running in the Democratic field, but not participating in Wednesday's debate, were Rhett Smith and perennial candidate Gene Kelly.

Kelley Shannon has covered Texas politics and government in Austin since 2000.

Link to article

Senate hopeful Noriega vows health care reform

Sun, 10 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0800

By Bob Campbell
Midland Reporter-Telegram

Democratic state Rep. Rick Noriega of Houston said Saturday that his military service and advocacy of health care and educational reforms will propel him to his party's nomination against U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, in the Nov. 4 general election.

"The people of Texas are tired of being misled, misinformed and being told two and two are five," he told 40 supporters in a noontime rally at Midland's Democratic headquarters at 601 S. Main St.

"This is a David and Goliath race, but as Wilt Chamberlain once said, nobody likes Goliath."

Noriega, who represents the 145th District in Austin, conceded Cornyn is better financed and enjoys the advantages of incumbency; but he said he "will have enough" money to advertise on TV and his support of competitive bidding for health management organizations and making college more affordable will gain him the necessary support.

"Working families should not have to ask, 'Can I afford to be sick?'" said Noriega, 50.

He faces Corpus Christi school teacher Ray McMurrey and perennial candidates Gene Kelly of Universal City and Rhett Smith of San Antonio in the March 4 Democratic primary.

Introduced by County Vice Democratic Chairman David Rosen, Noriega said his 2004-05 National Guard service as a major training Afghani troops near Kabul proved he "walks the talk" to serve his country.

Texas State Teachers Association board member John Duncan, an Odessa elementary school teacher, said the TSTA has endorsed Noriega because he helped pass a teachers' pay raise last year, sought more funding for school districts and opposed private school vouchers, among other actions.

"Rick will continue working on these important issues in the U.S. Senate," Duncan said.

Noriega is giving up the state representative's seat he has held since 1999 to seek the Senate seat in Washington, an aide noted. Cornyn is opposed in his primary by Biblical fundamentalist Larry Kilgore of Mansfield.

Noriega graduated from Alvin Junior College and the University of Houston and earned a master's degree in public administration at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. His wife Melissa is an at-large member of the Houston City Council who served in his place during the 2005 state legislative session.

Link to article

Democratic Senate candidate Noriega stumps in Lubbock

Sat, 09 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0800

By Eric Finley
Avalanche Journal

State Rep. Rick Noriega, running for the U.S. Senate seat held by Sen. John Cornyn, stumped with his message for change in several West Texas cities on Friday.

"Here in the Panhandle and the South Plains we recognize that we have been off course for some time," he told Democrats gathered at the Lubbock County Democratic Party headquarters.

He acknowledged agricultural issues weren't his strength but said he'd rely on the expertise of former U.S. Rep. Charlie Stenholm, a favorite among West Texas Democrats and once a leading agricultural legislator.

Noriega, D-Houston, has served five terms in the Texas House of Representatives. The front-runner in next month's Democratic primary, he has raised considerably more money than any of his three primary opponents.

He said he liked national health care plans that require coverage as a way to lower costs and would work to stop employers from hiring undocumented workers.

He also spoke with college students from Texas Tech with concerns about the rising cost of higher education. Josh Nunez, president of a student Democratic organization at Tech, said he has friends at the state university who graduate with $40,000 in loans.

"We as Democrats and working Texans have to fight that issue," Noriega said.

Noriega is a lieutenant colonel in the Texas National Guard. He took leave from the Legislature in 2005 to serve in Afghanistan.

Noriega spoke passionately about the war and against privatization of military duties and said Cornyn was part of a problematic Congress who didn't know "an M-16 from M&Ms."

Link to article

Carlos Guerra: Noriega has many of the attributes to beat Texas GOP and Cornyn

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0800

By Carlos Guerra
San Antonio Express-News

Will Texas Democrats finally start winning statewide elections again? State Rep. Rick Noriega of Houston -- who wants to deny U.S. Sen. John Cornyn a second term -- is betting on it.

Wednesday, he ended a three-day tour that took him through the Coastal Bend to the Valley, the Laredo area and the Wintergarden before ending at his San Antonio campaign offices.

It was packed with a diverse crowd that included many office-holders. But also there were many dipping their toes into political waters for the first time.

On the tour, a staffer said, crowds varied from a few dozen to several hundred, but enthusiasm is high, and small contributions already total $1 million.

"People are fed up with leadership that keeps telling them that things are fine, the economy is great and the war is going well," Noriega says. "It's transparent, and someone has to say, 'The emperor has no clothes.'

"People recognize disingenuousness and incompetence; they are ready for change," he said as his father José -- also a proud veteran -- beamed.

Beating an incumbent is usually an uphill endeavor. But few discount the potential perils posed by an anti-GOP mood that is now even spreading in Texas. Nor does anyone underestimate this challenger's credentials.

The great-grandson of immigrants, Noriega enrolled in junior college in 1976 on an athletic scholarship and attended the University of Houston on an ROTC scholarship, earning his B.A. -- and officer's commission -- in 1984. After a stint at the Texas Insurance Commission, he continued his studies at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Public Affairs, where he earned a master's in 1990.

Eight years later, he won the first of four terms in the Texas House, where House colleague José Menendez says: "He was extremely effective because he could work with both Democrats and Republicans."

But along the way, Noriega's studies -- and his public service -- were interrupted more than once by the military's calls.

Noriega joined the Army National Guard as a private after Iranian militants took Americans hostage in 1979. After 9-11, he had become a major who commanded an infantry unit in Afghanistan for 14 months, while his wife Melissa -- now a Houston city councilwoman -- filled in for him in Austin.

Noriega then returned to Houston a lieutenant colonel and was quickly named to command the city's Hurricane Katrina relief efforts that turned the convention center into a shelter for 30,000 evacuees and then dismantled it -- all in 30 days.

When President Bush ordered the National Guard to provide support for the Border Patrol in 2006, Noriega again volunteered, becoming commander of the Laredo Sector and gaining valuable insight into border issues that he says are cynically being manipulated for political gain.

"Without due process, the federal government is starting to seize Texans' land," Noriega says of the planned border wall. "Whether you're in the Panhandle or in Brownsville or El Paso, you know that violates everything we created this state for."

He is also fond of quoting Cornyn, who once called the border wall "an 18th-century solution for a 21st-century problem," -- but, Noriega said, Cornyn "has kept voting for it and voting for its funding."

Whether Noriega's impressive résumé -- and the discontent over President Bush's handling of the war, the sagging economy, the worsening subprime mortgage debacle and escalating gas prices -- will motivate enough Democrats and independents to put Noriega over the top remains to be seen.

What is clear is that Cornyn's lockstep defense of Bush policies may have landed the junior senator plum committee assignments that keep him visible on national newscasts and have fattened his war chest.

But Cornyn may also face problems distancing himself from an administration that, as the economy worsens, is quickly turning into one of the most unpopular in decades.

Link to article

U.S. Senate Candidate Rick Noriega Visits Valley

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0800

By Victor Castillo
KGBT4

A candidate for U.S. Senate visited the Valley on Monday and sat down one-on-one with Action 4 News to say why he should be one of the two U.S. Senators for Texas.

We're talking about 49-year old Rick Noriega, the Democrat Houston legislator who is also a National Guard Lieutenant Colonel.

During his visit to the Valley, Noriega shared why he's challenging Texas' incumbent Junior Senator, Republican John Cornyn.

Rick Noriega said he is no stranger to public service.

Having served in both the armed forces and in public office in the Texas House of Representatives, he tells Action 4 News he's prepared to restore integrity in the U.S. Senate.

"It's time for a change in leadership and I'm going to be that leader of change" Noriega said.

Noriega says he's challenging U.S. Senator John Cornyn because Cornyn's voting history does not reflect representation of the Valley's and Texas values.

"Whether is bringing home the monies to repair the levee system, whether as Mr. Cornyn has voted for the wall here on the border and then voted to fund the wall, voted against the CHIP program, voted against increasing student loans for our students can go to college."

Noriega says his challenge for the U.S. Senate may be like David and Goliath but he is 100 percent sure he understands border issues better than John Cornyn.

"As you know I'm the only candidate perhaps in the United States that has actually commanded National Guard soldiers as in Laredo Sector Commander fighting against "los narcotraficantes", human smugglers and people who launder money."

Noriega's priority is to bring U.S. troops back from Iraq and bring federal funds to the Valley to fix the levee systems.

"It's not about me, it's about us, are we ready to answer the call and to step up and accept that challenge? To change the way things are and change the course of our state and our country? And it's going to take the people of the Valley that will elect the next United States senator from the State of Texas"

Link to article

Noriega's Senate bid attracts national Democrats

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0800

By R.G. Ratcliffe
Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau

State lawmaker goes to Las Vegas to let donors know 'Texas is in play'

AUSTIN -- With millionaire Mikal Watts out of the U.S. Senate race, the national Democratic Party is now treating Houston state Rep. Rick Noriega as the apparent party challenger to Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn.

Noriega is traveling today to Las Vegas as a guest of the Democratic National Committee to meet national party donors who are attending the Nevada Democratic Party's presidential debate, which begins at 7 p.m. Central Time.

"They've got a lot of national donors coming to this, and we wanted them to put a face with the name," Noriega told the Houston Chronicle on Wednesday. "What's going to happen is across the country folks are going to start realizing that Texas is in play."

In the past several weeks, Noriega also has picked up endorsements from past Democratic presidential candidates John Kerry and Wesley Clark.

"It's a different race now, from a primary to a general election," Noriega said Wednesday.

Another sign that Noriega is turning the national party to his favor occurred last week in Austin, where he was a guest at a fundraiser for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

The senatorial committee will not decide which state races to finance until late next summer, but chairman Sen. Charles Schumer had in the past indicated a preference for Watts as the party nominee because Watts, a San Antonio trial lawyer, could largely finance his own campaign.

Because of campaign finance limits, it will be difficult for Noriega to finance his general election against Cornyn with just the money donated by Texans. Noriega ended September with $510,000 in the bank to Cornyn's $6.6 million.

The task is not insurmountable, though. Democrat Ron Kirk in the 2002 Senate race raised $912,000 in the year before the election. By the end of the campaign, Kirk had raised $9.6 million. Cornyn won the race, raising $9.3 million, but both candidates received several million dollars more in independent expenditures by national party committees.

Link to full article

Cornyn should hang his head on illegal alien education vote

Mon, 05 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0800

By Massey Villarreal
Fort Worth Star-Telegram

One of the most pressing issues facing our nation today is fixing our deeply flawed immigration system. This is particularly true in border states such as Texas.

But earlier this year, Congress failed to take action to reform this system. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, was central to that failure. And he was central to the recent failure to pass the common-sense DREAM Act, which he had supported in the past in a much broader version. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, sought to amend that legislation and worked hard to perfect it.

The one tried and true path to achieve the American Dream is a quality education, and even though efforts to enact comprehensive immigration reform fell short this year, a bipartisan group of senators introduced the DREAM Act last month. The legislation would have provided hard-working immigrant children who pursue higher education or volunteer for military service with an avenue to win legal status by proving their character.

In the U.S. today, there are students who have lived practically their entire lives in this country; they've gone to high school here, they've worked hard to succeed and have talent that our economy and armed forces need.

Whatever one thinks about the immigration issue, these children typically were brought to the U.S. by their parents when they were too young to understand the manner of their arrival, let alone have any control over the decision. A majority of these kids know no other country as their home and speak no language but our own.

Sadly, Cornyn makes it a policy to demand that Hispanic children from Texas prove their legal status before allowing them to meet with him in Washington.

By caving in to the fears of a vocal minority, Cornyn and many of his colleagues turned their backs on thousands of kids living and striving in our communities. He thumbed his nose at the Texas Legislature (which created a state version of the act in 2001) and Gov. Rick Perry (who signed it). They recognized the return on investment to our state from allowing these kids to reach their potential and contribute fully to our economy.

Texans know better, and that is why our state has refused to buy into fear-mongering and political scapegoating of hard-working immigrants of good character.

Cornyn might talk a good game, but his actions speak louder than his hollow words. There is no excuse for voting against such a narrowly crafted piece of legislation as the DREAM Act, particularly when the senior senator from our state stood on the floor of the U.S. Senate asking for his vote and promising a tough bill that would satisfy both sides of the debate.

The writing is on the wall where Cornyn is concerned. He has joined the ranks of the know-nothing, do-nothing obstructionists who refuse to deal with the immigration issue in a manner that will lead to responsible and practical reform.

This issue won't go away on its own, and it isn't reasonable to pass the buck to state and local governments. There are 12 million undocumented immigrants in the United States, and without sensible reform, the situation will only get worse.

The American public is fed up with politicians like Cornyn who fail to act. In the absence of any immigration reform, local tensions will simmer, public frustration will mount, and we will be no closer to providing the security, enforcement and accountability the American people demand.

Massey Villarreal is the former national chairman of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly and a board member of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Link to article

Democratic Senate candidate to visit Brownsville today

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0800

The Brownsville Herald

Democratic Senate candidate Rick Noriega is scheduled to make a stop in Brownsville today at a breakfast hosted by District Attorney Armando Villalobos at the law office of Trey Martinez, 1201 E. Van Buren St. The breakfast is scheduled to run from 8 to 9 a.m.

Noriega, who served in the U.S. Army, rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Texas Army National Guard. He is a Democratic state representative from Houston.

Noriega is calling his three-day visit to the Rio Grande Valley, "Answering the Call to Service -- South Texas Barnstorming Tour."

The candidate’s first stop is in McAllen, to be followed by Brownsville, Weslaco, and Edinburg. He also planned to visit Zapata, Laredo, Eagle Pass, Del Rio, Uvalde, Hondo and San Antonio.

Noriega faces Democratic Party candidates Gene Kelly, Ray McMurrey, and Rhett R. Smith as they try to unseat Republican incumbent John Cornyn for a six-year term of office. Cornyn faces challenger Larry Kilgore.

Libertarian candidates include Scott Jameson, Jon Roland, and Yvonne Schick.

Candidates who filed a declaration of their intent to run as Independents include W. Leon Smith, Michael R. Powell, Robert V. Belt and Robert James Devine.

Link to article

Senate hopeful Noriega introduces himself to S. Texas

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0800

By R.G. Ratcliffe
Houston Chronicle

KINGSVILLE -- Democratic senatorial candidate Rick Noriega introduced himself to South Texas on Monday by telling audiences the region has not had representation in the U.S. Senate since Lloyd Bentsen left office in 1993.

Noriega accused Republican incumbent Sen. John Cornyn of failing to fight for the region on issues such as funding the repair of flood levies and the construction of a Veterans Affairs hospital in South Texas.

But it also was clear that the Democrats who attended the Noriega gatherings had come to find out who he is. The five-term Texas House member from Houston, who is married to Houston City Councilwoman Melissa Noriega, is barely known south of the Nueces River.

"I came out here to meet him because I didn't know who he was," said Robert Tapa, a member of the Robstown school board.

Noriega cousin Armando Gonzalez of Robstown was asked whether people in South Texas had ever heard of Noriega. Gonzalez replied, "Not really, but they're going to find out."

Noriega readily admitted that in a four-way race for the Democratic nomination, he needed to reach out to the people and political leaders of an important party constituency. "Forty percent of the primary is San Antonio and all of South Texas. For the primary's sake, you've got to go fishing where the fish are," Noriega said.

While repeatedly going after Cornyn, Noriega never mentioned his three primary opponents: Corpus Christi school teacher Ray McMurrey or perennial candidates Rhett Smith and Gene Kelly.

A lieutenant colonel in the National Guard, Noriega made a special effort at every stop to reach out to retired military personnel wearing service ball caps. And he emphasized the lack of a veterans hospital in South Texas, saying Cornyn had failed the region.

"South Texas has not had a United States senator in years, since the time of Lloyd Bentsen," Noriega told about 40 people at Lena's Filipino Restaurant in Kingsville.

"When was the last time you saw John Cornyn here, fighting for the people of Kingsville, Kleberg County and South Texas?"

A woman in Kingsville asked Noriega if he could support pending legislation to build a South Texas veterans hospital, and he answered, "Without question."

Cornyn campaign spokesman Kevin McLaughlin took Noriega's statement as an endorsement of a bill Cornyn introduced in June 2007.

"We appreciate Representative Noriega endorsing Senator Cornyn's legislation to bring a $175 million VA hospital to the Valley, " McLaughlin said.

Cornyn's proposal essential calls for a study of the needs of veterans in South Texas and, depending on the outcome, calls for in-patient care at an existing hospital; construction of a 50-bed hospital with a 125-bed nursing home; or create health care through a sharing agreement with an unnamed military facility.

Noriega said Cornyn is a "latecomer to the game." Noriega said the legislation he supports is carried by U.S. Reps. Solomon Ortiz, D-Corpus Christi, and Ruben Hinojosa, D-Mercedes. The region needs a full veterans hospital, not a clinic, he added.

Also Monday, Noriega's campaign entered serious negotiations with McMurrey to have a debate. Noriega has been criticized for refusing to rise to McMurrey's debate challenge.

McMurrey spokesman William Pate said Noriega's campaign at first agreed to a Feb. 13 debate and then wanted it on Feb. 28. Pate said both dates would be good with McMurrey. Noriega said campaign manager Sue Schechter was negotiating the details.

Noriega's South Texas tour took him to Corpus Christi, Robstown, Kingsville, Falfurrias, Raymondville and McAllen on Monday.

His planned stops today are in Brownsville, Weslaco, Edinburg, Zapata and Laredo. On Wednesday, he is going to Eagle Pass, Del Rio, Uvalde, Hondo and finishing in San Antonio at the Bexar County campaign headquarters.

The heavily Hispanic region is a key Democratic primary battleground. Hispanics make up about 40 percent of the Democratic primary vote, and in South Texas they have a history of ethnic identity voting that gives Latino candidates an edge.

South Texas twice played a major role in the everyman U.S. Senate races of Mesquite school teacher Victor Morales.

The region in 1996 made him the Democratic senatorial nominee, defeating two incumbent congressmen. He lost the general election to incumbent Republican Phil Gramm.

Then, in a five-way Senate primary in 2002, Morales was the state's top vote-getter in part because he carried the heavily Hispanic counties of Cameron, Hidalgo, Nueces and Webb and came in first in Bexar.

Former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk won the nomination by substantially outspending Morales in the runoff. Kirk lost the general election to Cornyn. Morales carried Cameron and Bexar counties in the runoff, but lost the other counties to Kirk.

"Ron Kirk had to make a large investment to make sure Victor didn't take South Texas," said consultant James Aldrete, who worked for Noriega in the early stages of his campaign.

Aldrete said in 2004, the Democratic primary vote in South Texas was 12 percent of the total statewide. The Houston media market made up 15 percent of the Democratic primary vote, he said.

South Texas, he said, is an area where Noriega's military experience will resonate. Aldrete said on a per capita basis, probably no other section of the state has as many of its young people serve in the military.

Democratic consultant Jason Stanford, who worked for San Antonio lawyer Mikal Watts before he dropped out of the race, also said Noriega's service in Afghanistan will be a plus in winning votes in the valley.

"A Hispanic Democrat who has a war record has the right profile for the Valley," Stanford said.

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Rick Noriega Speech to Texas AFL-CIO Convention

Sat, 19 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Austin, TX
January 19, 2008
As prepared for delivery

Thank, you Texas.

They've given me 10 minutes to talk to you about why I'm running for Senate.

I can summarize it in three words:

I've had enough.

I've had enough of insurance companies making record profits while so many Americans do not have affordable health care.

And I've had enough of Mr. Cornyn siding with those insurance companies, and doing nothing about it.

If you work hard and play by the rules, you shouldn't have to worry about whether you can afford to get sick. It's time we had a Senator who will fight to make sure everyone has access to quality affordable health care. I'll fight for health care reform that puts our families first – not insurance company profits.

I've had enough of our leadership hanging our fighting men and women out to dry.

And I've had enough of Mr. Cornyn letting this President get away with it.

From leaving our troops without a plan and without body armor from Iraq to Afghanistan, to refusing to take care of our veterans when they come home, our country is failing to honor those who are making the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

It's time we had a Senator who will demand our nation have a plan to bring our troops home from Iraq, and care for them when we do. Ill fight to make sure that veterans have access to the highest quality health care, ensure the V.A. is fully funded, and make sure no veteran is left behind. For the men and women I served with in Afghanistan, and for every Texan who's heard the call to service, I'll make our soldiers and veterans the priority they ought to be.

I've had enough of college costs spiraling out of reach for middle class families.

As a state representative I stood on the frontlines and spoke out against tuition deregulation because it would have raised tuition rates across Texas – a tax on both middle class families and the aspirations of thousands working to join the middle class.

It's time we had a Senator committed to making a college education and post-high school training more affordable so our kids can get the best jobs in the 21st Century. I'll keep fighting to make college affordable for every Texas family.

I've had enough of our country not having an energy policy. It is time we had a Senator who will work to end our dependence on foreign oil. I'll fight for renewable energy, and create new green jobs here in Texas.

I've had enough of our federal government making it harder for workers to organize.

Mr. Cornyn was wrong to vote against the employee free choice act.

It's time we had a Senator who recognize that you can't have a strong America unless you have strong workers.

And I've had enough of the idea that Democrats ought to be afraid to stand up and be counted.

Once you've been shot at for real, taking a few political shots doesn't really bother you as much.

Mr. Cornyn and his allies are going to spend a lot of money telling you who I am. Well, I'll save them the trouble – I'll tell you right now.

I joined thousands of my fellow Texans in serving our country on the frontlines. I won't let anyone try to tell Texans that Democrats aren't prepared to protect in America.

I'm honored to have served securing our southern border in dealing with the immigration crisis. I won't let anyone try to tell Texans that Democrats aren't serious about immigration.

Specifically, we're serious about not continuing the Bush/Cornyn policy of letting employers off the hook when they use our broken immigration system to try to drive down wages.

And I'm honored to have been asked by Mayor White to help Houston respond to the influx of Katrina refugees.

And I won't let Mr. Cornyn and his allies try to tell us that because they screwed up in New Orleans, none of us should be allowed to believe that we can ever accomplish anything.

While we're offering change, they're selling cynicism.

I've had enough.

And, after five years of Mr. Cornyn, voters have, too.

Have you had enough?

Noriega goes on attack against Cornyn as Cornyn aides look on

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Kelly Shannon
Associated Press

AUSTIN--Democratic Senate candidate Rick Noriega, warning that two aides to Republican Sen. John Cornyn were lurking in the audience, attacked Cornyn Thursday for a series of votes that he said hurt Texans.

At a joint appearance for Democratic Senate candidates, Noriega noted to the Central Texas Democratic Forum that Cornyn aides Dave Beckwith and Kevin McLaughlin were present. The two registered to attend the luncheon and sat quietly wearing name tags.

"I hope by the end of my presentation you'll agree to vote for me as well," Noriega said to the Cornyn employees, to laughs and applause.

"With all due respect to our junior senator who currently occupies the seat once held by Lyndon Baines Johnson," Noriega said, Cornyn's opposition to expanding the state Children's Health Insurance Program "is not standing up for Texas families."

He listed other Cornyn votes on the military, immigration, higher education and prescription drug costs that he said weren't in the best interest of Texans.

"You've got to have a vision of where we can go as Texans," said Noriega, a five-term state representative from Houston.

Noriega is the best known and best-financed candidate for the Democratic Senate nomination.

Earlier, forum organizer Chuck Herring let the Cornyn insults flow.

"He is, in my view, charitably considered, he is the most worthless excuse for a senator Texas has ever had," Herring said. "And I do not like him."

The Cornyn spokesmen said afterward they had no comment on the Democratic event.

Noriega and Cornyn are the frontrunners in their respective parties for the March 4 primaries.

Candidate Ray McMurrey, a Corpus Christi teacher, said it isn't enough just to replace Cornyn. He said the next senator must have a "proactive reform agenda," and he said he wants to bring American troops home from the war in Iraq in a year's time.

"Every one of us in some way has been touched by this war," McMurrey said.

He said social programs have been slashed to pay for the costly war and that it's time for an Iraqi political solution to the problem.

Noriega, a lieutenant colonel in the Texas Army National Guard who spent 14 months in Afghanistan, has said he wants to tie funding for the Iraq war to a "logistically reasonable" timetable for withdrawal that includes the safe removal of troops and equipment.

McMurrey, calling for a head-to-head debate with Noriega, criticized Noriega as the candidate of big money lobbyists. He said Noriega should have worked in the Legislature for campaign finance reform.

"People want to make this about the money and not about the ideas," he said.

Democratic primary candidate Rhett Smith said he wants to stand up for civil rights worldwide and against hate speech that he said some national talk radio hosts use to "totally abuse the airwaves."

"This is not what America stands for," he said.

The fourth Democratic candidate, Gene Kelly, was not there. Organizer Chuck Herring warned the crowd to spread the word to vote against Kelly, a perennial candidate who draws attention because of his famous dancer name.

Cornyn faces minor opposition from consultant Larry Kilgore on the GOP side.

Kelley Shannon has covered Texas politics and government based in Austin since 2000.

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Boots on the Ground: Veteran Rick Noriega stands up to Bush, Cornyn, and the Iraq war.

Fri, 14 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0800

Jan Reid
Texas Observer

Rick Noriega, the Democratic Houston legislator and candidate for U.S. Senate, is tall, trim, handsome, and bald. The National Guard lieutenant colonel, 49, was working a small crowd of San Antonio Democrats and donors this past September with both the habitual shoulders-back posture of a career soldier and the fluid ease of a onetime junior college infielder. "I'm nobody's Don Quixote," he told me in a later interview, acknowledging the odds against his turning out Texas' incumbent junior senator, Republican John Cornyn. "I'm too old to go off tilting at windmills. But I'm fed up."

Though Noriega addresses many issues, the heart of his campaign is the mess that George W. Bush, neocon ideologues, and apologists like Cornyn have made of the war in Iraq. The challenger's campaign logo, and metaphor, is a dusty pair of Army combat boots—a pointed distinction between himself and Cornyn. On seeing American hostages humiliated in Tehran by Iranian militants in 1979, when he was 21, Noriega joined the Guard as a private in a burst of conviction that he had to do something. He was a corporal when he won an ROTC scholarship at the University of Houston. Nearing 30, after a decade of work for the Texas Insurance Commission, he was accepted by the John F. Kennedy School of Public Affairs at Harvard. After graduate school, he came back to Houston, ran a losing race for the state House of Representatives at 32, worked as an aide of Houston state Sen. John Whitmire, got a job lobbying the Legislature for a public utilities firm, then ran again for the House and won in 1998. After 9/11, by then a major, Noriega was called up in 2004 and sent to Afghanistan to command an infantry unit with a lineage that goes back to the Alamo.

Rick Noriega

Democrats know why they want to vote politicians like Cornyn out of office. But not since Ann Richards have Texas Democrats fielded a major candidate who inspired them to weather a long, uphill fight and in the end turn out to vote. Could this great-grandson of Mexican immigrants be the one? Noriega has a compelling story. But can he get it told to hundreds of thousands of people, including the necessary independents and crossover Republicans?

Cornyn, whom Bush nicknamed "Corndog" when Bush was Texas' governor, barks at anyone, including GOP Senate colleagues, who dares criticize the president's rationale and conduct of his self-proclaimed War on Terror. Cornyn has toed the administration lines on Guantánamo, Abu Ghraib, and torture. But Cornyn, a 55-year-old native of San Antonio, was too young to have to make any personal decisions about service in Vietnam, and in the post-draft era he plunged into law school and a practice defending against medical malpractice suits, setting his sights on a district court seat that became his springboard to a GOP career. He was elected attorney general in 1998 and U.S. senator in 2002, pulled along in both races by Bush's popularity in Texas and the guidance and grooming of Karl Rove. For all his hawkish bluster, Cornyn has never had to risk his neck under fire or even stand for a military inspection.

Since Noriega wears fatigues and boots as a reserve member of the Army, he cannot afford to overstate his rebukes of his commander-in-chief. He doesn't have to. Today Bush has little support for his vision and execution of the war outside stalwarts of the Republican Party. Noriega's chance at winning his race for the Senate depends on cultivating widespread disgust with this administration, even in the GOP bastion of Texas, and convincing voters that Cornyn, in the interest of his own survival, has careened even further than Bush toward extremism and bile.

On Capitol Hill, Cornyn has won (or been awarded) committee assignments on armed services, the budget, ethics, and the judiciary. Those forums offer a wealth of free exposure on national television. As Bush's partisan, he has argued like some magisterial, lantern-jawed prelate in the Inquisition. On his home turf, he hasn't projected the stature of Kay Bailey Hutchison, much less a Lyndon Johnson or Ralph Yarborough. His negatives are high for an incumbent, his name recognition low. In acknowledgment of the fast-approaching day when this presidency is history, Cornyn has lately broken not only with Bush, but with his Senate mentor John McCain by seizing on the issue that ultraconservative Republicans believe can turn back the tide begun by the 2006 elections—resentment and fear of illegal Mexican immigrants. The nativism is a strategy of short-term gain that will come back to haunt the Republican Party when a majority of Texans are of Latino heritage. For now, Cornyn heads into his race with nightly snarls of agreement from pundits like Pat Buchanan and Lou Dobbs, and a campaign war chest of $6.6 million provided by a who's who of corporate interests. And white males have a history of being the voters most inclined to participate in Texas general elections.

Noriega and son, Ricky Jr.

As Noriega worked the room of La Margarita Restaurant that noontime in September, his fundraising total since joining the race three months earlier had reached only $531,000. He could not be certain he would even get the chance to oppose Cornyn in the 2008 election. First he had to overcome an amiable San Antonio trial lawyer named Mikal Watts, who had put $7.5 million of his own money into a Democratic primary race and had raised over a million more from donors. For the San Antonio fundraiser, Noriega's team had circulated invitations with an A-list of local Democratic sponsors—chief among them Henry and Mary Alice Cisneros. "This is a very impressive list," noted a crusty partisan who asked a longtime friend seated at our table if she would pass on a crumpled pair of $100 bills to the candidate. "But they're not here."

I was acquainted with the woman who'd been asked to pass on her friend's $200. She had been at the forefront of the city's progressive battles for many years. I poked a chip at salsa and mildly asked her what she thought of the San Antonio lawyer in the race. Given her knowledge of politics and its players, her reply mystified me. "I don't know anybody who'd ever heard of him."

The Democrats who were curious about Noriega had taken seats in a crescent around the back of the room. Carla Vela, who chairs the Bexar County Democratic Party, stood and complimented Noriega but stressed that their position in the primary had to be firmly neutral. After the introductions, Noriega quit the podium and microphone because the distance between himself and his audience would have been a fair throw to first base for the shortstop he once was at Alvin Community College. The National Guard battalion that Noriega commands is headquartered in San Antonio; a number of members had come downtown in support. Noriega began, "We live in the most wonderful nation in the history of the Earth." A few people clapped, doing no damage to their hands.

Noriega said he wanted to share the story of a woman who in 1916 was an economic refugee of Mexico. "She crossed through Eagle Pass, Texas, and found her way with her son to Houston. Her son died, and she raised her grandchildren. One of her grandchildren went off to the Army, joined the 82nd Airborne. He came back to Houston and fell in love with a girl from Magnolia Park. They married and had three children. Neither of the parents graduated from high school, but they dedicated their lives to those three children, and all three of them graduated from college. The middle child went off to the East Coast and got a master's degree at Harvard. He also followed his father's footsteps into military service. He enlisted as a private, and over the years he rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel. And he has the opportunity to stand before you today and say that he is a candidate for the United States Senate."

Just then, a loud cell phone went off at the table of the Bexar County Democrats. Vela announced "an emergency at the office," they all clambered to their feet, and in odd concert they bolted for the stairs. "Leave a check at the door," Noriega called after them, laughing gamely.

Lurching back on message, he introduced a Mexican-American firefighter in the audience and said they'd been sharing memories. The man is a first sergeant in the battalion Noriega commands. In 2005 they were training Afghan soldiers outside Kabul, and because of that country's long war against the Soviet Union, those austere plains are some of the most heavily mined terrain on Earth. One day some soldiers who lived in the next tent over from Noriega's were scouting for new training sites and set off one of those old Russian mines. Noriega had been in telephone or e-mail contact with his wife almost daily, but combat fatalities impose on their units a 72-hour blackout of all communication back home, so the victims' next of kin can be properly notified. Melissa Noriega, who served in her husband's legislative seat while he was overseas and is now a popular Houston City Council member, saw the crawl of newsprint across the CNN screen that four American soldiers had been killed on a training mission outside Kabul. She knew it had to be her husband's battalion.

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Exclusive Interview: U.S. Senate Candidate Rick Noriega on the Issues

Sun, 09 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0800

By Chuck Dent
Southwest Texas LIVE!

Houston Democrat Rick Noriega formally filed to challenge U.S. Sen. John Cornyn last Monday, calling his Republican rival an "obstructionist" on immigration and a political follower on the war in Iraq.

Noriega was raised in Houston, Texas. He graduated from Mt. Carmel High School in 1976 and attended Alvin Junior College on a Rusk athletic scholarship. It was during these formative years that he learned to work hard to get far in life.

In 1984, Noriega completed his undergraduate education with the help of an ROTC scholarship at the University of Houston, receiving his commission in the United States Army. He went on to earn a Master's Degree in Public Administration in 1990 at the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government, where he was an editor of the Harvard Journal of Hispanic Policy.

Noriega felt compelled to answer the call and serve in the U.S. Army in the wake of the 1979 Iran hostage crisis. He was an airborne school and service commander of the 143rd Infantry Detachment (Long-Range Surveillance), an aide to Brigadier General David Heuer, and aide-de-camp to General Samuel Turk, Adjutant General of the Texas Army National Guard.

But Noriega's service in the Army did not end there. He became a Lieutenant Colonel in the Texas Army National Guard, and served as deputy garrison commander of the KMTC training facility in Kabul, Afghanistan after 9/11. Noriega was deployed in Afghanistan for a total of 14 months until August 2005, and he was also the Laredo Border Sector Commander in Operation Jump Start during the summer of 2006.

Upon his return from Afghanistan, Noriega was tapped by Houston Mayor Bill White as Incident Commander of Houston's Hurricane Katrina relief efforts at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston. His leadership with the military, as well as his record in community service, was crucial as the GRB was transformed into a virtual city that cared for nearly 30,000 evacuees, and was then dismantled in the course of less than a month. At the center, Rick coordinated medical, employment, travel, housing and food services for more than 2,000 evacuees living on-site.

Noriega was here in Del Rio last week, one day after declaring his candidacy. He chaired the Mexican American Legislative Caucus (MALC) of the Texas House of Representatives Texas Border Security Task Force assembled in the Del Rio city council chamber to hear invited testimony from local elected officials from House Districts 74 and 80 regarding their views on current border security.

"Del Rio and the surrounding area are an important part of the Texas -- Mexico Border, but many policymakers, particularly bureaucrats in Washington, never bother to visit. Our goal is to hear first hand the security concerns of Del Rioans and others living in this unique part of the Southwest Texas Border," State Representative Pete Gallego, MALC Chairman said in a prepared statement.

We interviewed Noriega in Southwest Texas LIVE! offices just after the MALC meeting adjourned on Tuesday, December 4.

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Noriega camp's poll boosts Senate hope

Sat, 08 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0800

By R.G. Ratcliffe
Houston Chronicle

AUSTIN — A new poll conducted for the campaign of Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Rick Noriega indicates incumbent Republican John Cornyn's re-election is neither guaranteed nor can it be helped by President Bush.

Cornyn's campaign declined to respond to the poll.

But Republican Party of Texas spokesman Hans Klingler said what the survey does not capture is the opinion of Texans when they compare Cornyn's conservative record to "liberal" votes Noriega has cast as a state legislator from Houston.

"Once his (Noriega's) message gets out statewide, it's good for Cornyn," Klingler said.

The survey by Lake Research of 500 Texans likely to vote in next year's general election found 41 percent disapproved of the job Cornyn has done in the Senate, while 36 percent rate Cornyn as excellent or good.

But only 31 percent of those surveyed said they definitely would vote for Cornyn's re-election. More than half, 53 percent, said they would consider someone else for the Senate. The margin of error for the poll, conducted Nov. 13-18, was 4.4 percentage points.

Cornyn, whose first-term tenure has been marked by his open support for the Bush administration, also may be hampered by his ties to the president.

The Lake poll found 53 percent of Texans disapproved of Bush's performance in office, with 44 percent having a favorable view. That is consistent with a Survey USA poll conducted in June that found Bush was rated poorly by 57 percent of the Texans surveyed.

Pollster Celinda Lake, in a memo written for Noriega's campaign, also noted that a Texas Lyceum poll released in June showed 62 percent of Texans believe the nation is on the wrong track.

"In sum, Senator Cornyn has a weak public profile that is vulnerable to further negative definition," Lake wrote. "He has a small base of political support, and he cannot count on help from a weakened president."

Klingler said Bush's numbers should be improving over the next year because he is not running for re-election, the surge of troops appears to be working in Iraq and the president is fighting Democrats over federal spending. Klingler said the Republicans will have a new political posture.

"That he (Bush) is not on the ballot, Republicans will be looking for other standard-bearers, and John Cornyn is one of them," Klingler said.

Noriega consultant James Aldrete said the campaign commissioned the poll to show donors that Cornyn is vulnerable.

"Clearly, part of it is to show donors the volatility of the race," Aldrete said. "Right now, people might not be firmly with Rick, but they are firmly in the belief that we're on the wrong track."

When Noriega filed for Senate last week, he admitted that he did not have large statewide name identification.

Aldrete said that Cornyn should be bothered by the fact that 38 percent of the voters surveyed have either never heard of Cornyn or don't know enough about him to have an opinion of him.

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Texas: Guard Officer Running for Senate

Tue, 04 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0800

By The Associated Press
New York Times

Rick Noriega, a five-term Democratic state lawmaker, formally began his bid to unseat Senator John Cornyn, making it clear that he would use his stature as a National Guard officer to criticize the Iraq war. "We are in an occupation of a country currently," Mr. Noriega said. "The American people are tired of being misled and misinformed." Mr. Noriega, a lieutenant colonel in the Texas Army National Guard, spent 14 months in Afghanistan.

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Noriega files for senator

Tue, 04 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0800

By Wayne Slater
The Dallas Morning News

Legislator challenges incumbent Cornyn on immigration, Iraq

AUSTIN -- Houston Democrat Rick Noriega formally filed to challenge U.S. Sen. John Cornyn on Monday, calling his Republican rival an "obstructionist" on immigration and a political follower on the war in Iraq.

Mr. Noriega, who served in the military in Afghanistan, described Iraq as an "occupation," not a war. He called for withdrawal of troops.

"America wins wars. We are in an occupation," he said. "The American people are tired of being misled and misinformed, and not one more drop of blood of one of my brethren is going to bring a political resolution in that region."

The five-term state representative from Houston acknowledged that defeating Mr. Cornyn will be difficult. Mr. Cornyn is better known statewide and has a sizable financial advantage.

As of last month, Mr. Noriega's campaign had $510,000 in the bank. Mr. Cornyn's campaign reported $6.6 million.

But the Noriega campaign hopes to tap an anti-incumbency mood and voter discontent with the Bush administration. He accused Mr. Cornyn of voting against spending on veterans programs and on children's health care while pretending at news conferences to support such programs.

He accused Mr. Cornyn of pandering to the ideological extremes of his party by refusing to support President Bush's proposal for immigration reform.

"I hope it won't be a scapegoat issue in this election cycle to evoke emotion, intolerance and hatred," he said.

"It's time to challenge the politics of Karl Rove in the state of Texas, their game-plan to divide us as Texans and as Americans," said Mr. Noriega. "Our mission must be to unite our state and our country."

Mr. Cornyn's campaign had no comment. The Republican, who won the Senate seat in 2002, will officially file for re-election within the month, according to an aide.

Mr. Noriega will be challenged in the Democratic primary by Corpus Christi teacher Ray McMurrey.

A lieutenant colonel in the Texas Army National Guard who spent 14 months in Afghanistan, Mr. Noriega said he supports firm timetables for withdrawing troops from Iraq. He said the conflict requires a political, not a military, solution.

He said Mr. Cornyn has not adequately supported funding for veterans and their families.

"Someone who has not walked the walk before cannot, in good conscience, understand what that does to Texas families," he said.

Mr. Noriega's campaign had originally planned to get on the ballot with 5,000 voter signatures, but decided to pay the $5,000 filing fee. He said it was important to officially get started as quickly as possible.

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Noriega makes run for U.S. Senate official

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0800

Liz Austin Peterson
Associated Press Writer
Houston Chronicle

HOUSTON -- Democrat Rick Noriega, a five-term state lawmaker and National Guard officer who served more than a year in Afghanistan, formally kicked off his campaign to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn on Monday.

Noriega met with dozens of supporters at a breakfast in Houston, then filed his candidacy papers at the Texas Democratic Party's headquarters in Austin on the first day candidates could begin entering the March party primaries.

Congressional and judicial candidates filed candidate paperwork early in the day at the Republican Party state office. Cornyn planned to file his another day during the monthlong filing period, his campaign said.

Ray McMurrey, a Corpus Christi teacher, announced last month that he plans to challenge Noriega for the Democratic nomination.

Noriega is a lieutenant colonel in the Texas Army National Guard who spent 14 months in Afghanistan. He supports ending the war in Iraq and setting firm timetables for withdrawing troops.

He also said he wants to provide veterans and their families with better medical care and make health insurance and higher education more affordable.

In Austin, Noriega said the "mismanaged" war in Iraq will be a leading campaign issue.

"America wins wars. We are in an occupation of a country currently," Noriega said.

As he mingled among supporters munching on Mexican pastries and scrambled eggs, Noriega acknowledged it won't be easy to defeat the state's junior senator. As of last month, Noriega had just $510,000 in the bank, while Cornyn has about $6.6 million.

But Noriega said regular Texans are more concerned about their own bank accounts.

"We no longer need someone who represents the interests of Washington but represents the interests of 23 million Texans," Noriega said, speaking at a banquet hall in the working-class neighborhood where he grew up.

Democratic precinct chairman David Robinson said he came to Monday's breakfast because he admires Noriega's military service and the years he has spent in the Texas Legislature.

The retired political science professor said he thinks Noriega could win because Cornyn has aligned himself so closely with the Bush administration, whose popularity has waned in Texas and across the country.

"It's going to take a lot of work, but I think he has a chance to pull it off in November," said Robinson, who used to teach at the University of Houston-Downtown.

Noriega was joined at the breakfast by his elderly parents, his third-grade teacher, his 9-year-old son and his wife, Melissa, a Houston city councilwoman. Several Democratic state lawmakers also came to show their support.

Cornyn, the former attorney general of Texas, was elected to the Senate in 2002. Republicans have held that seat since 1961, when Lyndon B. Johnson resigned to become vice president.

Associated Press political writer Kelley Shannon contributed to this report from Austin.

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Noriega officially files for Democratic U.S. Senate primary run

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0800

NBC 6 News

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- State Representative Rick Noriega of Houston has formally begun his run for the 2008 Democratic U.S. Senate primary nomination.

The Texas National Guard lieutenant colonel and five-term lawmaker filed his papers with the state Democratic Party today in Austin.

Noriega spent 14 months in Afghanistan and supports ending the war in Iraq and setting firm troop withdrawal timetables.

He also said he wants to provide veterans and their families with better medical care. The legislator also says he wants to make health insurance and higher education more affordable.

Corpus Christi teacher Ray McMurrey has said he plans to challenge Noriega for the Democratic nomination. The winner will face Republican U.S. Senator John Cornyn.

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Noriega meets with local Democrats

Sat, 03 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0700

By Lucretia Fernandez, Courier staff
Houston Community Newspapers Online

Rallying support for his U.S. Senate campaign, state Rep. Rick Noriega, D-Houston, told Montgomery County Democrats he is as committed to them as to the soldiers he commands in the Texas Army National Guard.

Noriega is currently the sole contender in the race for the Senate seat now held by a fellow Houstonian, Republican Sen. John Cornyn.

Speaking at the Lone Star Democratic Club's meeting Thursday at the Montgomery County Library, Noriega stressed problems with the Bush administration's foreign policies. He also criticized Cornyn's devotion to President George Bush's views and decisions.

"As a Texan, I have a duty to say Mr. Cornyn and this administration, 'You are wrong,'" Noriega said. Noriega, a lieutenant colonel, was deployed to Afghanistan for 14 months during his third of five terms in the Texas House. He commands 600 soldiers, who have recently returned from the Middle East and Bosnia.

According to Noriega, the U.S. should begin pulling out troops, but given the current situation, he said, the transition must be gradual. He supports the appropriations bill because soldiers need "beans and bullets," but said if he was in Washington, he'd be tying benchmarks to the bill.

"The way we get out of there requires changes in policy," Noriega said.
Noriega also addressed immigration issues, putting emphasis on the need to know "who's here, where they are and what they are doing."

"Having said that, we've got a lot of folks in the shadows, in this underground society," Noriega said. "We've got to have a process to get them out of the shadows and legitimate."
Many of the more than 50 people attending the Lone Star Democratic meeting vocally favored Noriega's ideals and asked how to donate to his campaign.

"Immigration is not our only problem," said James Gibson, of The Woodlands. "I want health care and people back from the war. We have to all participate in this together."
San Antonio attorney Mikal Watts recently dropped out of the race against Noriega for the Democratic nomination and has since voiced his support for Noriega's campaign, Noriega said.
Noriega also said that the Texas Democratic delegation is expected to issue a press release next week unanimously endorsing Noriega, to "clear the field."

For more information about Noriega or his campaign, visit www.ricknoriega.com.

Lucretia Fernandez can be reached at lfernandez@hcnonline.com.

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With road to nomination clear, Noriega looks ahead

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0700

By John Moritz
Star-Telegram

AUSTIN -- The most eye-catching graphic on Rick Noriega's campaign Web site is a pair of well-worn combat boots that presumably trudged the rugged terrain of Afghanistan in pursuit of the terrorists who attacked America on 9-11.

Noriega, a Democratic state representative from Houston, wore those boots while deployed with his National Guard unit to the war zone two years ago. Now he hopes they can carry him to the U.S. Senate in his race against first-term Republican John Cornyn. For Noriega, a 49-year-old energy company executive, the journey got a little easier last week when his chief rival for the Democratic nomination quit the race because of family concerns.

But even if no other opponent emerges for the March 4 primary, Noriega still has a high hill to climb: Texas has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1988, when Lloyd Bentsen won his fourth term. Noriega said that after spending a year in Afghanistan and 10 years in the fractious Texas House, he's undaunted by the prospect of a statewide political battle, no matter how bruising it might become.

War experience

"It's time this state had people in Washington, D.C., who have the wartime experience to understand what is going on," said Noriega, a lieutenant colonel in the Guard who supports the U.S. effort in Afghanistan but wants to end the military involvement in Iraq.

Cornyn, who has not served in the military, has been a key Senate ally of President Bush's policies in Iraq. He supported the surge in troops Bush ordered this year and backs the president's plan to withdraw some troops in the coming months. Both he and his campaign aides have said they would not engage in back-and-forths with any Democratic rival until after the primaries.

Even though millionaire trial lawyer Mikal Watts abandoned his plan to seek the Senate nomination, Noriega said he will continue to campaign as if he'll face a contested primary next year. He remains largely unknown outside Houston, but since entering the race last summer, Noriega has gained endorsements from dozens of his Democratic colleagues in the Legislature and from such statewide figures as former Gov. Dolph Briscoe, former Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby and Henry Cisneros, the ex-San Antonio mayor and ex-Cabinet secretary.

"He is a fundamentally decent man who has the right head and the right heart to represent this state in the Senate," said Democratic state Rep. Lon Burnam of Fort Worth, one of the Legislature's most liberal members. "I'm 100 percent behind him, even though I did confide to his wife that I think he's crazy for doing this."

Burnam was quick to clarify that he wasn't suggesting that Noriega is delusional for thinking he can win. What's nuts, Burnam said, is the effort and expense required to compete in a state like Texas.

"He's going to have to spend a lot of time away from home, and he's going to have to raise an awful lot of money," said Burnam, who has known Noriega for more than a decade.

Noriega, a father of two, said he's been facing and meeting challenges all his life. He enlisted in the military in 1979 as a private after the taking of the American hostages in Iran inspired him to serve his country. Five years later, looking to complete his college education, he enrolled in ROTC at the University of Houston.

That set him on his course to become an officer in the National Guard and to pursue his civilian career, first as a teacher and then as energy company executive after earning a master's at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. He unsuccessfully ran for the state House in 1992, then ran again after the candidate who had beaten him decided to give up politics.

"I've always had a very strong desire to be involved in public service, whether it's with the Guard serving in Afghanistan or along the Texas-Mexico border, or in the Texas Legislature," he said.

Noriega's accomplishments in Austin include bills that increased benefits for custodial grandparents, removed the statute of limitations for prosecution of fatal hit-and-run accidents and required bilingual notices to residents living near convicted sex offenders. He said his most far-reaching legislative accomplishment was his sponsorship of the 2001 bill that made Texas the first state to provide in-state tuition rates and financial assistance for qualifying immigrant children.

'Full battle rattle'

But Noriega appears most at ease when he talks about his National Guard service. When his unit was sent to Afghanistan in 2004, he held the rank of major and he was in charge of training Afghan troops needed to help the U.S. military track down terrorists in the region. By the time the deployment ended a year later, he had been promoted to lieutenant colonel and was the Guard unit's garrison commander.

"Every day we were there, we were in full battle rattle [combat gear] and anticipating enemy action," Noriega said. "I know what it's like for troops who are stationed far from home for months and years at a time."

The deployment forced him to miss the 2005 legislative session. His wife, Melissa, took his place in Austin. In July, she was elected to the Houston City Council.

Not long after returning from Afghanistan, Noriega was tapped by Houston Mayor Bill White to coordinate efforts to shelter evacuees from Hurricane Katrina. And his Guard unit was assigned to assist law enforcement activities along the Rio Grande.

Noriega said he hopes to take a get-things-done attitude with him to Washington.

"We need a change, and we need new leadership that has walked the walk, whether we're talking about the war or border issues or working in a bipartisan way," he said.

Link to full article

'Team Noriega' juggles runs for U.S. Senate, Houston City Council

Fri, 26 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0700

By Karen Brooks
The Dallas Morning News

HOUSTON -- Rick Noriega, the sole Democratic contender to challenge U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, is more than committed to politics. He's married to it.

The Army lieutenant colonel and state representative from Houston's East End was set to fight San Antonio plaintiffs lawyer Mikal Watts in the March primary, in what would have been an expensive and close fight.

That changed this week when Mr. Watts stepped out of the contest, saying that the campaign was taking a toll on his family. No other candidates have announced that they're interested in the Democratic primary, though the filing deadline isn't until January.

Family is a familiar reason given by politicos to step down from the campaign stump, but politics has characterized the Noriega family's lives together for more than 20 years.

While he readies the jets for his campaign, his wife, Melissa Noriega, is gearing up for re-election in a couple of weeks to the at-large Houston City Council seat she won in July.

"We're just doing what we believe we're supposed to be doing," Mr. Noriega said.

With his-and-hers campaign signs on their cars and an overflowing schedule of politicking interrupting family dinner time with their two sons, the Noriegas are ready for a crazy and trying year.

"We like this," Ms. Noriega said. "It's what we do."

Laura Miller can relate

Former Dallas Mayor Laura Miller -- one half of North Texas' quintessential political power couple -- said being in a political marriage is more of a curse than a blessing. Politics, she said, contributed nothing to her relationship with her husband, former state Rep. Steve Wolens.

"There are not a lot of upsides to being politicians in a marriage," Ms. Miller said. "A lot of political marriages fail because people get swept up in the moment. ... It's bad enough that there's all kinds of poison outside your home with politics. But if you let that come into the house, then it's really very bad for your family life."

With their collective leap into ever-bigger political projects, the Noriegas will face challenges that most couples don't have to face -- such as long days, weeks away from each other, conflicting schedules, intense public scrutiny and one-two punch political attacks by their foes.

It doesn't really faze them.

"We're stepping off the boat, putting our feet in the water, and we're not looking down," said Mr. Noriega, 49.

Republicans disapprove

Last spring, political rivals produced a TV ad to feature "Team Noriega" during her council campaign for a special election -- when her husband had only begun to eye a challenge to Mr. Cornyn.

"Team Noriega -- like that's a bad thing," she replied.

Harris County Republicans vow to "challenge them every step of the way."

"He will use her position as a city councilperson to help move his campaign forward," said Jared Woodfill, chairman of the Harris County GOP, which helped orchestrate the "Team Noriega" ads for her opponent.

"That's one of the issues we were playing on, too," he said. "Team Noriega ... it clearly is a team effort with respect to the offices they're holding -- literally, he serves, then she serves, and then he serves in the same position.

Rick Noriega, he said, "is a liberal's liberal....Melissa Noriega walks in lockstep with him."

"Team Noriega" is aligned on most issues, but not all of them. Mr. Noriega voted in 2005 for new limits on increases in property appraisals. But two years later, his wife, appointed by him to sit in his place while he was in Afghanistan, voted against them.

The Noriegas say she didn't run for City Council to bolster her husband's plans. Ms. Noriega said she was moved to run both after her session in Austin and after watching her husband and other city officials shelter victims of Hurricane Katrina in Houston -- and after decades working for the school district and creating nonprofit groups with her husband.

Nor did her marriage, in itself, help her win, they note. Mr. Noriega's House district is only in one part of the city, and she ran citywide.

But when Mr. Noriega spent a year's tour of duty in Afghanistan with the Texas Army National Guard and turned his House seat over to his wife a couple years ago, it generated buzz -- and voters remembered that.

"People knew the story," she said.

They don't dispute that their fortunes are intertwined.

Mr. Noriega's career was put on the line when she jumped into the crowded special election. A loss would probably have crippled his Senate bid because it would have thrown into question his base of support -- and that would have scared off campaign donors.

"I find her very brave that she would run for office knowing that it may or may not affect his politics," Ms. Miller said. "Because I would never have had the guts to do that."

So little time

The Noriegas say it's not unusual for them to go weeks without spending an evening together. When Ms. Noriega needs to know if her husband is going to be in town for dinner, she calls his scheduler. When her husband's last-minute meeting conflicts with a fundraiser she's planned for weeks, he'll defer to her.

They've managed through Mr. Noriega's many campaigns and her council campaign while he was in session in Austin, as well as several weeks of living in downtown hotels when Mr. Noriega oversaw operations to shelter victims of Hurricane Katrina.

In short, the idea of being away from each other isn't attractive -- but it's also not unfamiliar.

"Folks ask us, 'How are you doing it?'" Mr. Noriega said. "But we kind of went through the gauntlet already, as a family."

The back of Ms. Noriega's white SUV has a "Melissa Noriega" bumper sticker on right side, and a similar sticker for her husband on the left side. Twin campaign signs are plastered on the garage door.

It was a match born out of politics.

At age 32, Ms. Noriega was on the alumni board for the University of Houston when a tall, younger man with "a sweet smile" brought an incredibly complex proposal for a St. Patrick's Day party, complete with green beer.

The presentation was so precise, "you would have thought he was moving the troops to Germany," she said.

They painted campaign signs on their first two dates. And while other couples took romantic weekend getaways, they were forming a nonprofit for kids. They married four years later, on Valentine's Day 1991.

In 1998, Mr. Noriega won his House seat, about a year after younger son Ricky was born. While Alex, Mr. Noriega's son from a previous marriage, is now 23 and a student and aspiring artist, Ricky showed an immediate penchant for politics.

His teacher was once telling a story about white zebras with black stripes fighting with black zebras with white stripes over which was better. Ricky informed the class that Martin Luther King Jr. would have a problem with the zebras' bigoted behavior. "He made his first political speech in kindergarten," his father boasts with a grin.

Politics clearly runs in the family.

Link to full article

Noriega wins endorsements from El Paso leaders

Sun, 30 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0700

Michele Angél
RioGrandeGuardian.com

EL PASO, September 29 - Potential candidate for U.S. Senate Rick Noriega picked up the endorsements of a number of El Paso elected officials at a campaign fundraiser over the weekend.

At an event at the El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Houston Democrat won the backing of state Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, state Reps. Paul Moreno, Joe Pickett, and Inocente "Chente" Quintanilla, County Commissioners Veronica Escobar, County Attorney Jose Rodriguez, and City Commissioners Steve Ortega, Susie Byrd and Beto O'Rourke.

"I am humbled by the outpouring of support," Noriega said. "The people of El Paso are clearly ready to elect a U.S. senator who cares about having a VA hospital and a children's hospital built, who cares about stopping the border fence, and who cares about the plight of the Tigua Indians. They have not had that."

Noriega is a five-term member of the Texas House who has formed an exploratory committee to consider a U.S. Senate run. A lieutenant colonel in the National Guard, he served one year in combat in Afghanistan. His knowledge of border security issues was strengthened by serving for five months as a National Guard sector commander in Laredo during Operation Jump Start.

Shapleigh dubbed the event, "Noriega en El Chuco," or "Rock Solid with Rick." Shapleigh said the people of El Paso will warm to Noriega as they get to know him during the campaign because of his background and achievements.

He predicted Noriega would especially secure deep support among El Paso veterans, hotel workers, educators, and students.

"Rick has a great El Paso campaign theme. His own story is the story of so many from El Paso: brave, veteran, achieved the American dream through education, fought for his country in Afghanistan and his people in Austin," Shapleigh said.

Shapleigh said El Paso voters were ready for a change in the U.S. Senate because of Cornyn's record.

"As Texas Attorney General, Cornyn did more than anyone in state government to end Tigua gaming," Shapleigh said. "Then check his votes in the U.S. Senate on veterans' health, on SCHIP, and on the border wall, which he voted for twice."

Shapleigh predicted health care would be a key issue in the presidential campaign and that would help Noriega in El Paso in a general election match-up against Cornyn. "El Paso is ground zero for that debate," Shapleigh said, pointing out that El Paso and Texas are dead last in health care coverage.

Noriega agreed. He said Cornyn's vote against expanding the bipartisan SCHIP bill last week would have denied health insurance to more than 440,000 Texas children. He pointed to a Families USA analysis which showed that the CHIP bill will reduce the number of uninsured kids in Texas by nearly a third.

The bill was passed overwhelmingly in the Senate. President Bush has said he will veto the measure.

Explaining his vote against the SCHIP expansion, Cornyn said there was a lot of misinformation and "downright demagoguery" going on in the media and elsewhere. He said the bill would have allowed families earning $80,000 a year the chance to enroll their children in CHIP.

"Every member of the United States Congress, and certainly this senator supports a continuation and reauthorization of SCHIP. It is a canard to suggest that anyone is for denying access to health care to the children," Cornyn said.

"But it is simply a Trojan horse to suggest that we are merely reauthorizing this legislation, because what is happening is we are seeing a dramatic expansion of federal spending, losing sight of the targeted population, and taking another incremental step towards a disastrous Washington-run health care system."

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, one of the authors of the SCHIP bill, disputed the claim that parents earning $80,000 a year would get coverage.

"If this bill became law tomorrow, how many families earning $80,000 a year would be eligible for CHIP? The answer is none. As they say in baseball: You can look it up," Grassley said.

Noriega said he looked forward to debating Cornyn on his votes on SCHIP, the border wall, and veterans' health care. He also said he would be returning to El Paso many times during the campaign. "Things are going really well here," Noriega said.

Meanwhile, Noriega's potential Democratic primary opponent, Mikal Watts, held a campaign fundraiser and pachanga Saturday at the home of Baldemar and Laura Gutierrez in Benavides.

Watts, a San Antonio-based attorney, said the event was part of his Listening Tour. He pointed out that Duval County has the highest turnout percentage (43.5 percent) in a Democratic primary of any county in Texas with over 9,000 registered voters.

Source: RioGrandeGuardian.com

The citizen-soldier and the political prophet

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0700

By Richard Gonzales
Special to the Star-Telegram

In a church turned reception hall, state Rep. Rick Noriega, D-Houston, told local Democrats last week that Fort Worth Rep. Lon Burnam is a prophet.

Burnam was the lone representative in 2005 to vote against electing Tom Craddick as speaker of the Texas House. In 2007, Burnam led another House dissent against Craddick, but this time he wasn't standing alone.

Perhaps Burnam is foretelling the future with his endorsement of Noriega to win the Democratic nomination for the 2008 U.S. Senate race. Noriega, citizen-solider, believes that Texans are as frustrated as other Americans with the Iraq war debacle and yearn for experienced leadership to end that conflict.

As battalion commander of an infantry unit in the Texas National Guard, he has led troops in Afghanistan and guarded the southern U.S. border.

Noriega said he's running partly because of his warrior ethos, which demands you leave no soldier behind.

"We have 160,000 brothers and sisters right now who I think are being misled by civilian leadership that has never walked the walk," he said.

Noriega claims that his experience at the front lines and the border gives him the expertise to formulate policy based on the realities of war and diplomacy. After five terms as state representative from District 145, he said he's ready to go to Washington to help fill the leadership void.

Science-fiction writer Robert Heinlein, in his book Starship Troopers, defined a citizen who served in the military as the only person qualified to assume political office. The willingness to risk and sacrifice your life for your country showed an extraordinary commitment to the nation's values.

On the other hand, as William Buckley once argued, Abraham Lincoln's lack of military experience (other than brief service in the Black Hawk War) didn't prevent him from acting as an able commander in chief of the Union forces during the Civil War.

Still, the citizen-soldier, like Noriega, has an unromantic, unsanitized understanding of war that tempers the zeal to shock and awe the enemy. As any grunt in Iraq will tell you, the mission is far from accomplished.

Turning his attention to immigration, Noriega claimed that Sen. John Cornyn was the administration's first lieutenant in supporting every policy introduced in the Senate except for comprehensive immigration reform. Instead, he said, Cornyn joined the ideological extreme and became an obstructionist.

Noriega said that obstructionists oppose reform because it offers them a punching-bag issue in the next election cycle. Doing nothing provides employers with an easily exploitable work force. The Noriega plan recognizes that this country will continue to need professional and manual immigrant labor as the baby boomers age. At the same time, he wishes to secure the borders with more law enforcement officers.

His five months serving along the U.S.-Mexico border taught him something valuable: "There are bad guys over there doing bad things," he said. Those "bad things" include human and drug trafficking.

Noriega recognizes that as long as the enormous economic difference exists between the United States and Mexico, the flow of undocumented immigrants will not end. He said that "people will continue to do risky things for $15 an hour."

He proposes foreign aid to Mexico that will help build its infrastructure. Mexicans building roads, schools hospitals and dams will give them the opportunity to work with dignity and will reduce the temptation to come to the United States.

"They may make $8 an hour, but they won't take the risk or leave their families to do something treacherous." he said. Noriega's comprehensive plan would address the supply-and-demand side of the immigration equation.

At the end of his remarks, he offered to take his Democratic audience on a run.

If Noriega wins the Democratic Senate nomination, the citizen-solider will certainly give the Republicans a run for their money.

But first we may need to consult with prophet Burnam to discern where Noriega will find the war chest required to run a statewide Senate race.

Richard J. Gonzales of Arlington is a freelance writer. Rgonz37034@aol.com

Source: Star-Telegram.com

A Tribute to the Courage of Sgt. Omar Mora (1979-2007)

Thu, 13 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0700

A Statement from Lt. Col. Rick Noriega

Yesterday, the greater Houston area lost another of its sons in uniform. US Army Sergeant Omar Mora died in a rollover accident while serving in his second tour of duty in Iraq.

Melissa and I extend our deepest condolences to the Mora family, especially his wife and his 5 year old daughter, as well as to the families of the six other soldiers who died in the accident with him. The rising number of casualties strike a chord in even the most hardened among us, and the loss felt as each soldier passes does not diminish. Omar and his brothers in uniform will be missed, and must be remembered.

Omar honored his parents, staying in contact with them regularly. A good son, he let them know he was safe and looking forward to returning home. Omar followed his mother's advice, and honored his God, never losing his faith. And Omar honored his country, not only serving voluntarily and tackling each task he was assigned, but by having the courage to speak out and voice his opinion that our nation's military presence in Iraq was no longer a war of liberation, but an occupation in the midst of a civil war between religious sects.

Omar voiced his concerns in an op-ed to the New York Times on August 19, written along with six other airborne soldiers ... one who died along with him in the accident, another who was shot in the head and is in critical condition.

It is the right of every citizen to speak their mind, as Omar's brother Roger told the Houston Chronicle -- a right that belongs to civilian and soldier alike, regardless of rank. Voicing one's opinion, especially from a soldier, is very difficult when 'management' is wrong. Omar, and his fellow soldiers had a better understanding of the cultural matrix in Iraq than what gets reported by the media, he had walked the walk. He spoke from experience when they said "we operate in a bewildering context of determined enemies and questionable allies, one where the balance of forces on the ground remains entirely unclear."

There is another manifestation of bravery that for those in uniform is a matter of course, but takes on special meaning among civilians who do not have to follow a chain of command ... the courage to listen. It's time our political leaders listen to the insights of Sergeant Mora, his fellow soldiers, and the reality in Iraq reported by every objective analysis from the bi-partisan Iraq Study Group to the recent GAO reports.

Sergeant Mora and his soldiers concluded their editorial by making clear "as committed soldiers, we will see this mission through." He lived up to his word. Now the challenge lies with the rest of us to listen and bring this mismanaged war to an end.

Because of extended deployments, Sergeant Mora was serving his 2nd tour in Iraq with the prestigious 82nd Airborne Division.

Cameron County delegation goes for Noriega

Thu, 13 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0700

Steve Taylor
RioGrandeGuardian.com

BROWNSVILLE, September 12 - The three-member Cameron County legislative delegation and numerous local elected officials have announced their support of Rick Noriega for U.S. Senate.

The endorsements came at a campaign fundraiser at Valley International Country Club and contrast sharply with what has been happening in neighboring Hidalgo County - where Noriega's possible Democratic primary opponent, Mikal Watts, has been picking up the support of some of its political leaders.

Both Noriega, a state representative from Houston, and Watts, a San Antonio-based trial lawyer, are exploring the possibility of running against U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, next year.

"I have known Rick Noriega for about 25 years," said state Rep. René Oliveira, D-Brownsville, introducing his House colleague to those at the fundraiser. "He's about as solid a human being, as solid a husband, as solid a father, as solid a leader as you could possibly be."

Among Cameron County officials, Noriega picked up the support of District Attorney Armando Villalobos, County Clerk Joe G. Rivera, District Clerk Aurora De La Garza, County Treasurer David A. Betancourt, and Sheriff Omar Lucio.

Brownsville City Commissioners Carlos A. Cisneros and Leo Garza were also present at the fundraiser to give their backing to Noriega.

And, in addition to Oliveira, state Reps. Juan Escobar, D-Kingsville, and Eddie Lucio III, D-San Benito, gave glowing reports on Noriega's work in the legislature.

Lucio said he spend the day taking Noriega to meet community leaders in Harlingen. "He was received so well," Lucio told the audience.

Lucio urged Cameron County voters to show up on Election Day to help get Noriega elected. "We only vote, folks, down here 14, 15, 16 percent. That is not empowering your elected officials. Let's make it a point to vote in huge numbers."

Escobar said Rio Grande Valley veterans fighting for a VA hospital would not have a greater champion in the U.S. Senate than Noriega. He pointed out that as a captain in the National Guard Noriega had served one year of combat duty in Afghanistan.

"When you have been in hospital and have seen people without legs or arms or eyes and crying for their mother, their wife or their families, then you have a passion for a hospital," Escobar said. "Rick Noriega has seen this in combat."

Escobar said another Noriega attribute was an ability to work with colleagues on both sides of the political aisle.
Rivera, a 30-year veteran of political wars in the Valley, said he first met Noriega before he was elected to the Texas House 12 years ago. He said he was immediately impressed.

"When I found out he was running for public office I did a little background checking. I can tell you he has a good heart, and a good mind. We need somebody like that," Rivera said.

"He also returns my phone calls, always. He is so diligent it is as though he is a representative for the Valley."

Asked if the fact that Noriega was Hispanic mattered, given that Texas is fast becoming a Hispanic-majority state, Rivera said: "Heck yes, we are way overdue. Us Hispanics do not ask for anything. Just put us where we have an opportunity. When we get an opportunity, we shine."

In Hidalgo County, Watts has picked up the support of state Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, D-McAllen, County Judge J.D. Salinas, and Democratic Party Chairman Juan Maldonado, among others.

Asked why Watts seems to be doing well in Hidalgo County and Noriega is doing well in Cameron County, Oliveira said the Houston representative started his campaign a little later. If he had started earlier, Oliveira said, Noriega would have picked up a lot of the early endorsements in Hidalgo County.

"I think one of the things we did here early is have a lot of private meetings with key elected officials and when Rick goes one on one with people and shares his story, it is so impressive," Oliveira said.

"I'm excited because here we have got a decorated colonel who has served in Afghanistan, a legislative veteran and a charismatic person with a Houston base who can wrap that flag around himself and run for the United States Senate and win. I know the man. I trust him."

Oliveira will be one of Noriega's key campaigners in the Valley. He said Watts was a friend and he thought highly of him. However, he said it was important to support a qualified Hispanic candidate who had a great chance of winning in the general election.

"I'm concerned that a pro-life trial lawyer is going to have a hard time winning," Oliveira said, referring to Watts. He said that in Noriega, Texans could vote for a decorated colonel in the National Guard, who had served in Afghanistan and spent 12 years in House learning about education and roads.

"We've got a guy who can walk into the United States Senate and probably teach them a thing or two and not somebody who needs to go up there on training wheels; who has no sense of public service."

In his remarks, Noriega blasted Cornyn over his vote for a border wall, his vote against giving combat troops as much time away from battle as they spent in Iraq, and for voting against enrolling more children in SCHIP. "That does not represent the values of us as Tejanos, as Texans, and as Americans. That does not," Noriega said.

Noriega said the state and the country were at a crossroads. And, he said he was looking forward to representing the values South Texans cared about. "It's not about me at all. It is about us as a state and us as a country. I'm not going to win this race. We are going to win this race," he said.

Source: RioGrandeGuardian.com

Rep. Noriega hopes to unseat Senator Cornyn

Thu, 06 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0700

State congressman campaigns in Austin for nationwide bid
By: Ana McKenzie

With voting more than a year away, Texas Rep. Rick Noriega, D-Houston, continued working to gain support for his U.S. Senate campaign at the Scholz Bier Garten Wednesday.

Noriega hopes to unseat Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2002 after serving on the Texas Supreme Court and as Texas Attorney General. San Antonio attorney Mikal Watts has also launched a campaign for the seat.

Noriega's audience was mainly members of Democracy for Texas, a local group founded in 2004 to support Howard Dean's goals to aid "socially progressive, fiscally responsible candidates" and to promote "grassroots political organizing," according to the group's Web site.

Democracy for Texas Executive Director Fran Vincent said the organization invited Noriega to speak because he exemplified the group's origins.

"He's gaining a lot of grassroots support," Vincent said. "We're a grassroots organization, so it just makes sense."

Noriega announced his candidacy last year and has since been touring Texas cities to "listen and understand the problems" in Texas, he said.

Earlier Wednesday afternoon, Noriega said he wanted to speak about civic engagement to the group at Scholz's, but by Wednesday evening, his topic of discussion had changed.

As the sun began to set, Noriega jumped on the stage at Scholz's and opened his speech by criticizing Bush's positive outlook on progress in Iraq. He then segued into the idea that politicians in Washington are merely for show and "don't get anything done," he said.

"We need work horses in D.C., not show horses," he said.

For the first time, Democracy for Texas will endorse candidates this election, Vincent said. The organization's support will be based on who its members vote for in an online poll, she said.

After his speech at Scholz's, Noriega addressed the University Democrats, who are supporting his campaign, said President Benjamin Trotter, a government sophomore.

"He really needs to capture the youth because we are a working force," Trotter said. "We're powerful in the Austin community and when we give our endorsement, it means something."

Link to article

Briscoe: Military background matters

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 00:00:00 -0700

Briscoe: Military background matters in '08 U.S. Senate race

He endorses Noriega, declines to slam other hopefuls.
By W. Gardner Selby

Former Texas Gov. Dolph Briscoe suggested Monday that candidates' military backgrounds should be considered by voters in the 2008 U.S. Senate race.

"In these times, an essential criteria for representing Texas in the United States Senate is service in the military, a person who has walked the walk," Briscoe said.

Briscoe, an Army veteran, was the governor from 1973 to 1979. He is a Democrat. On Monday, he endorsed state Rep. Rick Noriega, D-Houston, for the Senate seat held by Republican John Cornyn. Noriega, a lieutenant colonel in the Texas National Guard, served in Afghanistan.

Neither Cornyn nor Mikal Watts, a San Antonio lawyer seeking the Democratic Senate nomination, has a military background.

Briscoe declined to say that a lack of military experience should be held against candidates, but he said the war in Iraq is "the most serious situation to face our country for many, many years." He said Noriega's background "gives him a big advantage." Briscoe aired his views at an event hosted by Noriega, who also has the backing of former Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby.

Cornyn said Sunday on ABC-TV's "This Week" that the increase of U.S. forces in Iraq is "helping to make us safer, giving us a chance of success, rather than a guaranteed failure, which a rapid redeployment or withdrawal would guarantee."

Watts and Noriega favor bringing troops home sooner rather than later.

Cornyn, Watts said, "continues to read Karl Rove's talking points for staying in Iraq."