Pea Rodriguez Faces Texas State Rep. Gutierrez In District 19 Democratic Runoff
Attorney Xochil Peña Rodriguez will go up against State Rep. Roland Gutierrez in the July 14 Democratic primary runoff election for Texas' Senate District 19. The victor will face Republican incumbent Sen. Pete Flores in the November general election.
SD 19 covers a large swath of Texas, stretching across 17 counties including parts of Bexar and Atascosa, and south along the U.S.-Mexico border. The district was reliably blue until Flores' special election upset after Sen. Carlos Uresti resigned the office amid felony corruption charges.
Neither Peña Rodriguez (43%) or Gutierrez (37%) surpassed the 50% threshold to secure the district's Democratic nomination on Super Tuesday.
Gutierrez is a six-term state representative, immigration lawyer and former San Antonio City Council member. In the Texas House, he is currently a member of the Energy Resources and Pensions, Investments & Financial Services committees. Gutierrez made an unsuccessful bid for the SD 19 seat in 2018.
First-time candidate Peña Rodriguez is a lawyer and the daughter of former U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez. She previously served as associate counsel for the University of Texas at San Antonio and assistant city attorney for the City of San Antonio. She currently serves on the San Antonio/Bexar County Complete Count Committee for the 2020 Census.
https://www.tpr.org/post/pe-rodriguez-faces-texas-state-rep-gutierrez-district-19-democratic-runoff
