After 32 years in office, Guerra loses race for District Attorney

By Jacob Fischler
Monitor
March 04, 2014

http://www.themonitor.com/news/local/article_599433be-a428-11e3-8528-001a4bcf6878.html

District Attorney Rene Guerra talks on the phone after finding out he lost the democratic primary to Ricardo Rodriguez Tuesday March 4, 2014 at La Antigua Banquet Center in Edinburg.

Ricardo Rodriguez recieves hugs for his wife Deyanira Rodriguez with his son Ricardo Rodriguez by his side while entering the Sun Placel March 4, 2014 in Edinburg.

EDINBURG — The moment he heard the results of early voting, 32-year veteran Hidalgo County District Attorney Rene Guerra knew his career in elected office had ended.

“I’m shocked,” he said. “I didn’t expect the people to turn against me that much.”

Voters in the Hidalgo County Democratic primary, who had voted for him to be their chief prosecutor in eight consecutive elections, soundly asked him not to return for another term in January.

Ricardo Rodriguez, the former 92^nd state District Court judge who was 9 years old when Guerra first took office in 1982, received more than 20,000 of the 32,000 early voting ballots cast. Guerra needed to win roughly 75 percent of the Election Day vote to pull even, but he lost that by a similar margin. The final tally was about 29,000 votes for Rodriguez and 16,000 for Guerra.

“I already won,” Guerra said. “I’ve served 32 years in this county and two years as an assistant and as an acting (DA). I already won.”

Never one to keep his thoughts to himself, Guerra wandered from table to table at his election night party at La Antiqua Revilla Ballroom in Edinburg, telling supporters “I think I lost.”

Guerra’s 32 years in office are the second-most ever for a Texas district attorney. Former Tarrant County DA Tim Curry served for 36 years and four months.

Guerra’s will be remembered by his supporters as direct and independent, while detractors spoke of his arrogance and attitude.

“Rene Guerra’s always had a reputation of being pretty blunt and upfront about how he feels,” said state Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, D-McAllen, a local attorney.

The family of Irene Garza, a 25-year-old beauty queen from McAllen who was murdered in 1960, celebrated Guerra’s loss.

“We just got tired of year after year after year of the abrasive and insulted way that Rene had treated us,” said Noemi Sigler, a relative of Garza and the daughter of a sheriff’s deputy who originally investigated the case.

The 54-year-old case, which happened when Guerra was an eighth grader at an Edinburg school, became a campaign issue this year when Garza’s relatives campaigned on Rodriguez’s behalf, claiming Guerra bungled the 2004 reopening of the case. CBS aired an episode of the news magazine program 48 Hours on Saturday that delved into the case and highlighted the DA’s race as a possible path to attain justice for Garza.

Rodriguez has promised to take another look at the Garza case, but not to necessarily send it to another grand jury.

But Guerra, simply by winning so many times in a row, also earned the respect of many in the political community.

“He will leave office with his head held high,” said Dr. Jerry Polinard, a political science professor at the University of Texas-Pan American. “He will be the standard by which most future DAs will be compared.”

Guerra categorically ruled out a run for the office as an independent — or running for any future office. Instead he said he planned to stay active politically, but in a background role.

The race between Guerra and Rodriguez, whose family — the powerful Palacios clan of Edinburg — supported Guerra for decades, turned bitter. Some supporters blamed political machinations for the DA’s downfall.

“I think it was rather dirty politics playing against him,” said Jimmy Gomez, a 67-year-old retired Air Force veteran from Edinburg. “He’s always treated me fair and my family fair.”

The often verbose district attorney was concise when asked Monday if his relationship with the Palacios family would heal:

“No,” he said. “Never.”

And when Rodriguez begins the job in January, some workers in the DA’s office will help him transition, Guerra said — but not him.

“No, because he says he already has the knowledge so he won’t need any mentoring,” Guerra said Monday.

Rodriguez was quick to try to bury the hatchet once it was clear he’d won.

“I would like to thank Mr. Guerra for the service that he’s given to the County of Hidalgo for 32 years,” he said.

But Guerra said he had no plans to reach out to his opponent.

“I don’t think I can honor him by giving him a call,” he said.