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Texas State Rep. Norma Chávez, apologized this week for outing her political challenger, Democrat and Assistant El Paso County attorneyNaomi Gonzalez, but the apology may be too little too late for many long time staffers in her camp.
Chávez admitted that her statements should have no bearing on a political campaign and went on to say that she regrets her public speculation of her challenger’s sexual orientation.
"I regret that in response to one of my opponent's repeated, negative, personal attacks, I made reference to her sexual orientation," Chávez said in a statement. "My opponent's sexual orientation has no bearing on this campaign. This campaign should be about who is going to be the most effective legislator for El Paso in the Texas House."
Chávez, who has held her seat for 14 years, issued her apology only after a group of local Democratic and county officialscalled her out on the tactic. And, as a result, many TV affiliates in the area are reporting that the Chávez staffers are getting frustrated with the direction that the campaign has taken over recent months.
The El Paso Times is reporting that Lilly Ruiz, a long-time Chávez employee is one of the many staffers who have left the representative’s campaign.
Chávez twice suggested in public forums that Gonzalez was a lesbian. According to the Times, Chávez said that Gonzalez is a lesbian and should be open about it to voters, just as she herself is open about being a biker. At a second candidate forum, when Chávez was asked about her challenger’s stance on gay rights, she said Gonzalez was likely pro-gay because she was gay.
Gonzalez has issued a statement of her own in response, "We have received a lot of support from people in the community who are outraged by her behavior and feel she crossed a line and feel that a person's orientation is irrelevant," said Gonzalez. "The bottom line is it was an attempt on Norma's behalf to deflect on the issues, to deflect to the voters to not be accountable for her behavior."
In an interesting turn of events, Gonzalez has received at least $276,000 in campaign contributions from GOP donors to defeat Chavez, according to the Texas Ethics Commission. And, according to the Dallas Morning News, Chavez has criticized Gonzalez's ties to Republicans by pointing to the thousands of dollars Gonzalez has received from Texans for Lawsuit Reform, a top right leaning political action committee.
The runoff primary election is set to take place on April 13.
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