Sunday, November 8, 1998

GOP sends mixed signals to minorities

Don't be surprised if minorities in Texas pick up mixed messages from Tuesday's Republican sweep of state offices.

On one hand, Tony Garza became the first Republican Hispanic ever elected to a statewide position -- and only the third Hispanic in history to claim such a prize -- when he won the railroad commissioner's contest.

Garza collected more than 2 million votes, about 57 percent of the total, in easily defeating Democrat Joe Henderson.

At 39, Garza has a bright future in Texas politics. As Cameron County judge, he first attracted statewide notice when he made an unsuccessful bid for the GOP attorney general's nomination in 1994. Although Garza lost that race, incoming Gov. George W. Bush was impressed enough to make Garza his very first appointment, naming him secretary of state.

Garza's victory Tuesday is an obvious signal that the Texas GOP wants to be more inclusive and is willing to reward intelligence and talent regardless of race or color.

Controversial judge

On the other hand, Texas Republicans put a judge on the state's highest criminal court who has been embroiled in racial controversy and whose resignation had been called for by Hispanic groups even before Tuesday's election.

State District Judge Mike Keasler admitted writing notes to a bailiff that insulted blacks and Hispanics. Although he apologized after the Dallas Morning News reported the story in May, the Texas chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens and the Hispanic Bar Association called for Keasler to step down and withdraw from the race for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, whose Place 1 GOP nomination he had won in March.

The state chapter of the NAACP passed a resolution questioning Keasler's ability to be fair and asking state authorities to examine his record. Protests against him were held on the Dallas County courthouse steps.

Every major newspaper in Texas endorsed Keasler's Democratic opponent, incumbent Judge Charles Baird. The Morning News, Keasler's hometown paper, said "his ability to serve effectively on this court must be questioned." The Abilene Reporter-News wrote: "We don't need judges on the state's highest criminal court who suggest racism rules in the Texas judicial system." The potential for creating ill will in minority communities by raising a tarnished figure to the state's highest bench was widely cautioned.

But Keasler was not disowned by Bush or by the Texas GOP. And despite the adverse publicity, he still won on Tuesday along with all the other Republican statewide candidates. In fact, Keasler picked up only about 50,000 fewer votes than Garza did in his contest.

Perhaps Keasler is not a racist and doesn't deserve the racial associations that now attach to his name. But LULAC and the NAACP could well be looking askance at Texas Republicans' elevation of a suspected racist to higher legal office. Whether Garza's win will, in the long run, mean more to minority voters probably has a lot to say about the continued dominance of the Republican Party in Texas.