12/11/2006
Voters will go to the polls tomorrow in the final congressional race of the year, a race many Republican and Democratic strategists are calling a tossup. U.S. Rep. Henry Bonilla faces former Rep. Ciro Rodriguez in a runoff in Texas' 23rd Congressional District.
The race shows a significant contrast between the two candidates. Bonilla has represented the district since 1991, and is an NFIB Guardian of Small Business Award recipient. Rodriguez represented the neighboring 28th Congressional District, but was defeated for reelection in 2004. During his eight years in Congress, Rodriguez voted against small-business positions over 80 percent of the time.
Given the new dynamic of partisan control in Washington, many Democrats see the race as an opportunity to strengthen their new majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has spent more than $900,000 in ads supporting Rodriguez and visits from prominent Democrats including former President Bill Clinton. Bonilla has brought in Sen. John Cornyn and is touting the endorsement of the San Antonio Express-News, arguing that his seniority and seat on the powerful House Appropriations Committee gives him an advantage in fighting for people in the district.
