Another Brownsville Republican Throws Hat in the Ring for District 34 Rep
Another Republican has emerged as a candidate for the Texas 34th Congressional District. At least, his initial platform sounds like he'd be a Republican or a neo-Republican.
Philip Sotelo has announced, via a Facebook page post, he is seeking election to the United States House of Representatives. He is seeking to fill the seat Democrat Filemon Vela will be vacating after his current term expires.
Sotelo's appears to have been, and continues to be, a public servant. According to his Facebook post, he was a law enforcement official for 17 years before a visual disability caused him to leave the profession. He helps former law enforcement officers who have had to leave the job due to an abrupt disability. He also runs a charity that helps provide assistive technology to the visually impaired.
I can only assume he's running as a Republican despite his campain graphic not displaying anything stating he's a Republican. About the only hint his campaign graohic gives is the prominence of the color red, a color closely associated with the new GOP.
Reading through his Facebook post definitely leads me to believe he is a Republican. One of his posts is a link to an article on the One America News Network, an extreme far-right pro-Trump propaganda "network."
His Facebook page also posts criticisms and attacks directed towards Representative Filemon Vela, Democrats, and legislation they are supporting and introducing.
His campaign slogan seems to use some of the community used political buzzwords "greatest hits." He promises, "Truth, Accountability, and Service." His "truth" plank comes from his desire to have an "open-door" policy since previous representatives have ignored some of his previous requests. His "accountability" plank commits the candidate to following the rules and holding himself accountable to those rules. His "service" plank promised to serve the constituents and not the special interests and lobbyists.
His truth, a countability, service platform sounds nice, but it definitely sounds like the same generalized promises most candidates like to use.
Diving a little deeper into the candidate's platform, we start to see some of the Neo-Republican greatest hits as well.
Sotelo is not against immigration, but he's anti-illegal immigration. He is also pro- border wall. He states, "Those who have the decisions to open the borders and support the dusmantling of the wall, mostly do not live in the 34th District."
I don't think there's a majority of people, regardless of where they live, who sipport "open borders." Just because people are against the construction of an expensive and ineffective barrier doesn't mean they want the borders to be freely and completely opened. For the life of me, I'll never understand why people can't seem to realize building a 20-foot fence just means those who want to get over it will just use a 21-foot ladder. And those who say the Berlin wall worked don't realize it wasn't the wall, it was the guard towers and soldiers with Russian AK-47's with orders to shoot to kill those trying to cross over who made the wall effective.
Sotelo also supports term limits and supports an implementation of two four-year terms for "members of Congress and the Senate." First of all, Senators are members of Congress, but that's neither here nor there. I assume he meant Representatives and Senators, but the term limit part of his idea aside, it sure will be hard for a freshman Congressman to introduce what would essentially be a Constitutional amendment since Representatives serve two year terms and Senators serve six year terms.
Sotelo also holds his Christianity and spirituality close, accusing the Democrats of trying to "take Freedom of Religion away" by introducing the Equity Act. For the record, the Equity Act extends the protections of the Civil Rights Act to members of the LGBTQ community. I don't see what preventing discrimination has to do with religious freedom.
People are free to think their religious beliefs prevent them from supporting laws preventing LGBTQ discrimination, but don't forget, this country does not endorse a national religion. The government is not a Christian-only government. The First Amendment and the doctrine of the separation of church and state is crystal clear on that. It appears Sotelo believes in the conventional definition of a family and will not be introducing or sponsoring any pro-LGBTQ legislation.
Don't expect any gun control legislation from the candidate, either. His platform describes him as decidedly and unapologetically pro-gun.
The candidate also believes in protecting the "integrity of any election." While I have said the recent efforts to preserve the integrity of the electoral process aren't the big bad voter suppression issue some people are making it out to be, I do believe the belief that the election was tainted, or rigged, is a ridiculous premise that hasn't had any legitimate proof. Another example of politicians focusing on a problem that really isn't a problem that needs all the attention its getting.
It appears as if Sotelo is joining the movement to turn District 34 red. The Rio Grande Valley has shown it isn't the Democrat stronghold it used to be. With the election of a Republican mayor in McAllen, will other South Texas political offices follow suit?
Sotelo joins Mayra Flores, anotger rootin'-tootin' gun-totin' "Molon Labe" Republican trying to "come and take" the District 34 chair. Will the voters go along with the Republicans and the far-right? It appears Sotelo is hoping the answer to that is yes.
Will the Neo-Republican platform play in Deep South Texas? We shall see.
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