This Texas Democrat was campaigning quietly. Then Ken Paxton launched an investigation

By Nolan D. McCaskill
Reprinted – by Texas Metro News
https://www.dallasnews.com

JOURDANTON — Cecilia Castellano’s campaign breakfast had a modest turnout of about a dozen family, friends and volunteers, but it was the journalists from media outlets in Paris and New York who stood out.

Castellano is the Democratic candidate for a Texas House seat that is in play with the retirement of 14-term Rep. Tracy King, D-Uvalde, and Republicans are ready to pounce.

The out-of-state news crews didn’t drive to the Mexican restaurant in a town of barely 4,000 people 40 miles south of San Antonio because they were interested in Castellano’s prospects for holding a Democratic seat in the Republican-run Texas House. Nor did they care that a victory by her Republican opponent, Don McLaughlin Jr., would add another supporter of “school choice,” Gov. Greg Abbott’s priority plan to devote some public money to private schools.

Castellano became part of a bigger story in August when Attorney General Ken Paxton sent officers to raid her home and seize her cell phone with a search warrant obtained as part of an investigation into alleged vote harvesting in 2022.

Political Points

Raids also targeted other South Texas Latinos with ties to the civil rights group League of United Latin American Citizens, including Manuel Medina, a Democratic aide in the Legislature and Castellano campaign consultant.

Latino leaders accused Paxton of trying to intimidate voters in a “disgraceful and outrageous” attempt to counter the growing political power of Hispanic voters, and several Democrats in Congress called on the U.S. Justice Department to investigate the attorney general’s actions.

Paxton’s office said the search warrants were part of an investigation into “allegations of election fraud and vote harvesting that occurred during the 2022 elections,” adding that more information would not be provided because it relates to an ongoing investigation.

Cecilia Castellano did not mention Attorney General Ken Paxton in her public remarks Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. But she did discuss with The Dallas Morning News how the high-profile search of her home has impacted her personally and politically.(Cody Duty / Special Contributor)

The raids have had a mixed impact on the race, Castellano said, with some voters unaware of the incident, some criticizing Paxton and others saying she should drop out or be in jail.

She said she’s “gotten some ugly stuff” from Republicans and has heard from people who are afraid to work with her.

“That’s how much fear has already been poured into House District 80 due to everything that has happened,” she said.

Preparing for an afternoon of knocking on doors, Castellano encouraged her campaign team to make lists of voters who want to meet her personally and to give out her cell phone number if voters ask.

Castellano updated her walk list as she went door to door, taking meticulous notes on the homes she visited and voters she met while emphasizing her roots as a 24-year resident of Atascosa County.

Later Saturday, Castellano recalled one resident who greeted her at the door with, “Oh, you’re Cecilia.” She feared he had heard about the search warrant from the news. Thankfully, she said, he hadn’t.

“Having to clean up something that’s not true is just additional work,” she said. “Unnecessary work.”

Speaking outside a meat market in Pleasanton, where she had knocked on more than two dozen doors and dropped off campaign flyers on a 90-degree afternoon, Castellano indicated some good had come from Paxton’s actions.

“What Satan meant for evil, God turns for our good,” she said.

“I’ve been trying to see the good in everything that has happened, and one of the main things is I’m having an opportunity to talk to the media,” said Castellano, who conceded her campaign “really didn’t didn’t try to get media coverage” before the raids.

Looking for a winning message

Castellano and McLaughlin are running to represent House District 80, which stretches over six counties from southwest of San Antonio to the border with Mexico.

A McLaughlin victory would give Abbott another school choice supporter in the House, which has for years blocked school voucher proposals behind a coalition of Democrats and rural Republicans.

Castellano, president of AZTECA Designs & Construction, led a five-candidate field in the March primary and won her May runoff against Rosie Cuellar, a former Webb County tax assessor-collector and sister to U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo.

Her supporters believe the Paxton-led investigation of a Democratic Latina candidate could galvanize support from Hispanic voters, who account for 83.5% of the district’s population, according to a Texas Legislative Council analysis.

“What Paxton did to her is going to bring out the vote in favor of the victim,” said Steven Price, founder of the San Antonio-based VOICES of Our Veterans advocacy group. “What they did to her is just wrong. Anybody that knows her name or sees something in the press about her, it’s going to put up a red flag at the ballot box.”

McLaughlin, the Republican nominee, was mayor of Uvalde when a gunman attacked Robb Elementary School in May 2022, killing 19 students and two teachers. McLaughlin resigned last year to run for the Legislature.

His campaign did not make him available for an interview. In a brief phone call last week, McLaughlin’s campaign manager said to send an email to the campaign because she had someone on the other line. The campaign did not respond to a voicemail or to three emails requesting an interview.

According to his website, McLaughlin’s priorities include improving education, securing the southern border, reducing property taxes, investing in businesses and communities, protecting rural communities’ access to water and maintaining infrastructure.

Abraham George, chairman of the Texas Republican Party, called McLaughlin “an incredible choice for the voters.”

“He exhibits strong Texas values with an emphasis on securing the border, lowering taxes, empowering parents, and supporting small businesses,” George said in a statement. “We are excited to see a win in HD 80 this November.”

Spencer Davis, a Republican political strategist who has worked for the Republican National Committee and U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, said voters in the district want a candidate who’s listening to their concerns on inflation.

“Right now they are screaming for relief, and McLaughlin is clearly tuned into that,” Davis said.

For Castellano, public education is the top issue, followed by improving access to quality health care and affordable health insurance in rural areas, lowering property taxes and improving roads and water infrastructure.

Castellano said school districts are among the area’s largest employers. Diverting state money to private schools would hurt students and employees as well as communities that rely on school facilities, she said. Children with disabilities who live in rural areas could lose out if public schools are forced to consolidate due to dwindling enrollment and funds, she said.

“We cannot afford to lose any money — any more money — from our public schools,” Castellano said.

Bexar County Commissioner Tommy Calvert, who dropped off a campaign donation at Saturday’s breakfast and joined Castellano’s campaign staff and volunteers in door-knocking, said support for public education is a winning message.

“The areas out here along this corridor don’t have private schools where we can send people,” Calvert said. “That’s the issue that’s going to win for us on the ground, talking about the importance of public schools, and Cecilia is a champion for that.”

This story, originally published in The Dallas Morning News, is reprinted as part of a collaborative partnership between The Dallas Morning News and Texas Metro News. The partnership seeks to boost coverage of Dallas’ communities of color, particularly in southern Dallas.