Bosquez To Run For District 87 Seat

Progressives here in the Texas Panhandle got a bit of good news yesterday. Republican first-term representative, Walter Price, will have an opponent in the Texas House District 87 race in the 2012 election. Democrat Abel Bosquez (pictured above), who had been considering running against Price, announced that he will indeed be running for Price's seat.

Bosquez told the Amarillo Globe News that his issues would be education and jobs. He said, "I am going to start hammering at why the Republican Legislature cut the budget for schools and how the cuts are hurting the kids."

Bosquez knows he will be the underdog in the race. The Texas Panhandle is probably the reddest area in the state, and has elected nothing but Republicans for quite a while now (since it is a hotbed of fundamentalists and teabaggers). In fact, the Republicans have such an iron grip on the Panhandle that Democrats didn't even field candidates in most races in the 2010 election.

This will be the second time Bosquez has run for the House District 87 seat. He lost the election to Price in 2010, when he was the only Democrat running for a state House or Senate seat in the area. I hope not, but the possibility exists that he will be the only Democrat running again. He said, "I know other people are reluctant to run. I may be the only sacrificial lamb, but it's important to do it. Sooner or later we'll win."

He's absolutely right. The area may be solidly Republican right now (and Bosquez will be a definite underdog), but the changing demographics of the Panhandle show that will probably change in the future. It is just a question of how fast the change will happen. The White (and Republican) population in the area is aging, and a big percentage of younger Whites are moving out of the area for more lucrative opportunities elsewhere. Meanwhile, Hispanics are moving in to the area in substantial numbers.

Hispanics are already the majority in several small Panhandle counties, and eventually they will be the majority in all of the Panhandle counties. After that demographic change takes place, it is very unlikely that Republicans will be able to maintain their hold on the area (considering the racist and anti-immigrant policies they continue to support). While the present may be bleak, the future looks very bright for Panhandle Democrats.

But you can't win a race unless you have a candidate in that race. That's why it's very important for good people like Abel Bosquez (who is well-qualified for the office he is seeking) to run now. And more good Democratic candidates are needed. The people of the Panhandle need to know they have a choice in every election and every race. Running candidates now, even though they might be underdogs, will hasten the day when Democrats start to win in the Panhandle -- and that day will come.

Democrats and Panhandle progressives owe a debt of gratitude to brave candidates like Abel Bosquez -- who is willing to try to climb a very tall political mountain. He has my respect and my vote, and my undying gratitude for his political courage.