Tort reform at heart of Rios Ybarra, Lozano race

HARLINGEN — A dentist from South Padre Island and a Wingstop franchise owner from Kingsville have raised a combined total of some $720,000 to pursue a job paying an annual salary of $7,200.

But the money is not all that stands between the two candidates for the Texas House District 43 seat. Tort reform has been the big behind-the-scenes issue.

Rep. Tara Rios Ybarra, D-South Padre Island, nearly doubled the amount raised by her challenger, J.M. Lozano, according to campaign reports. Rios Ybarra has raised $439,545 since Aug. 7.

Lozano, 29, of Kingsville, raised $277,769 since July 1, according to campaign reports.
There is no candidate in the Republican primary, so the winner of Tuesday’s Democratic primary will represent District 43 in the next Legislature.

Lozano and Rios Ybarra, 38, are vying for a Texas House seat that represents Jim Hogg, Kenedy, Kleberg and Willacy counties, and the northern part of Cameron County.

The overwhelming amount of contributors in the District 43 Democratic primary for the legislative seat came from groups with opposing views on tort reform, according to campaign finance records obtained through the Texas Ethics Commission.
Tort reform refers to proposed changes in how damages are awarded in civil trials.

Campaign finance reports show that Texans for Insurance Reform, a political action committee, contributed $85,216, to Lozano. That amount added to the $62,500 in contributions from a Houston trial lawyer and the Texas Trial Lawyers Association, accounting for about 53 percent of Lozano’s campaign funds.

Opposing that group is the political action committee Texans for Lawsuit Reform, which has contributed $256,610 to Rios Ybarra, about 58 percent of the money in her campaign account.
The total campaign contributions as of Feb. 25 campaign finance reports from tort reform interest groups was $404,326,
about 56 percent of all contributions.

“It doesn’t surprise me that those two groups are supporting these candidates,” said Anthony Knopp Ph.D., a professor emeritus of history at the University of Texas-Brownsville.
“Several years ago, a lawsuit reform bill was passed,” Knopp said. “But the effort has been for trial lawyers to change that reform.”

A TLR spokeswoman said the political action group supports Rios Ybarra because it believes she votes for what is best in South Texas.
“Texans for Insurance Reform is a deceptively named front group for personal injury lawyers,” TLR spokeswoman Sherry Sylvester said. “Other than his family, Mr. Lozano has no financial supporters other than personal injury lawyers …”

Steve Mostyn, a Houston lawyer and contributor to Texans for Insurance Reform, gave $50,000 to Lozano’s campaign, on top of what was contributed through TIR, according to campaign finance reports.
“We’re trying to level the playing field,” Mostyn said. “(Rios Ybarra) receives money from Republican supporters with a lot of money to contribute. A true Democrat doesn’t have a chance.”

While TLR has outspent Texans for Insurance Reform in this legislative race, the Lozano campaign has used the TIL money to fund a series of mailers that challenge Rios Ybarra’s allegiance to the Democratic Party.
A mailer sent to a resident in Harlingen features a picture of Rios Ybarra with Cameron County Judge Carlos Cascos and Gov. Rick Perry, both Republicans. In front of Rios Ybarra in one of the photos is the word “Democrat?”
“It’s a typical tactic in South Texas because being a Democrat is important,” Knopp said.

The mailer that calls Rios Ybarra a Republican supporter also mentions campaign contributions she received from Bob Perry, a Houston developer who spent $2 million to fund the “Swift Boat Veterans for Truth” group, which campaigned against Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., in the 2004 presidential election, questioning the legitimacy of Kerry’s military career.
“I work with both sides of the aisle,” Rios Ybarra said. “I work for what’s best with South Texas.”

The Democratic caucus supported Rios Ybarra’s campaign, while Lozano received financial contributions from former state Sen. Carlos Truan, D-Kingsville, according to campaign finance reports.
Attacks against her party allegiance were one example of negative campaigning that Rios Ybarra said has come at her from Lozano.

After details of her divorce from Dr. Richard Joe Ybarra and her personal relationship with South Padre Island developer Clayton Brashear became public last summer, Rios Ybarra said she has had to deal with personal issues during her campaign.
Campaign finance reports show that Richard Joe Ybarra contributed $500 to Lozano’s campaign.
“I think that it’s unfortunate that my opponent is using a very important personal issue for political gain,” Rios Ybarra said. “The overall concern is jobs and health care. This is a serious election with serious issues.”

Lozano said he has only challenged Rios Ybarra on her voting record and her attendance at agriculture and livestock committee hearings.
When people have asked him questions about Rios Ybarra’s divorce and personal life, Lozano said he changed the subject.
“(Campaign) signs that have been vandalized and slashed tires on my car are what I call negative campaigning,” Lozano
said.

Lozano said he was offended by a recent newspaper advertisement from Rios Ybarra’s campaign, stating that he had never voted in a District 43 election.
“She knew I grew up in Premont, then went to undergraduate school in Austin and graduate school in San Antonio,” Lozano said. “I just moved here in 2008. And in November 2009, my son had just been born.”