MALDEF lawyer ready if Texas House seat opens

*Exciting news coming out of Texas. VL

By Gilbert Garcia, San Antonio Express News

Marisa Bono is a likely candidate in an election that might not take place.

Bono, a bright young attorney who has spent the past four years litigating cases for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, has her eye on the Texas House District 116 seat. She spends her spare time meeting with potential supporters, and friends in the community can barely contain their social-media enthusiasm about her candidacy.

The only snag in the scenario is that her potential campaign hinges on the outcome of a Feb. 17 state Senate runoff between Democratic colleagues Trey Martinez Fischer and José Menéndez.

Martinez Fischer easily carried a plurality of the vote earlier this month in the SD 26 special election, taking 43 percent of the vote compared with only 25 percent for Menéndez.

Martinez Fischer has to be viewed as a solid favorite, given his special-election performance and his stronger appeal to the kind of Democratic base voters who will likely turn up for a runoff.

If he wins, he will vacate his Texas House District 116 seat, and that’s where Bono comes in. If he loses, there is no office for her to seek.

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[Photo courtesy State Bar of Texas]