Campaign-watchers are still scratching their heads over two State Board of Education candidates, Marisa B. Perez of San Antonio (District 3) and Martha Dominguez of El Paso (District 1), who seem to be running invisible campaigns.
Rick Casey’s “Last Word” for September 28, 2012, “When Democracy Gets Stupid”:
Reflecting on Perez’s editorial board interview:
Perez is a well educated, intelligent woman and the type of person we like to see in public office, but not when it means bumping a better-qualified incumbent, especially when he or she is from the same party. It does not make sense.
Taking a job with the highly political San Antonio Independent School District — even if there are no rules prohibiting it — raises serious questions about the candidate’s judgment.
Her limited community involvement in education, hesitancy to return phone calls and disclose who is behind her campaign don’t do much to bolster confidence in Perez’s candidacy.
“Perez’s strange campaign sparks concerns”, Gloria Padilla, San Antonio Express-News, September 28, 2012.
Regarding Dominguez:
Dominguez won the Democratic primary despite the fact that she tried to withdraw from the race in late April, an effort that failed because she sent in the paperwork too late — and to the incorrect office — according to a spokesman in the secretary of state’s office. Though she did not respond to an interview request for this story, in June she told The Texas Tribune that she had decided to end her candidacy because of “personal issues” that had since been resolved, and that she fully intended to run against incumbent Garza in November.
“El Paso SBOE Candidate Has Little Campaign Presence”, Morgan Smith, Texas Tribune, September 19, 2012.
The State Board of Education makes decisions about which charter applications to grant. (Perez and Dominguez, however, will not be involved in this year’s decisions, likely to come on November 16, 2012.) Concerns about the SBOE have prompted a proposal to create an independent charter authorizer.
