By PAUL J. WEBER, Related Press
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — By the point Dr. Hector Gonzalez arrived in Laredo, Texas, in 2001, the final abortion clinic had already closed. He spent the subsequent 20 years experiencing firsthand the place the largely Hispanic and closely Catholic group alongside the border with Mexico normally sided.
“Undoubtedly it was, ‘No abortion,’” mentioned Gonzalez, the town’s former public well being director.
That tradition has helped shield the area’s nine-term congressman, Henry Cuellar, who is without doubt one of the final anti-abortion Democrats in Congress. However he is dealing with the stiffest problem of his profession on Tuesday in a runoff election towards progressive rival Jessica Cisneros, a 28-year-old immigration lawyer who helps abortion entry.
With the U.S. Supreme Court docket poised to doubtlessly overturn abortion rights in a ruling this summer season, the runoff is being carefully watched for clues about whether or not the problem will animate Democratic voters. An infusion of cash that exterior teams have poured on the bottom and throughout TV in South Texas is an indicator of an essential race, with abortion rights advocates attempting to decrease expectations about broader implications.
Political Cartoons
“Nationwide traits should not set by one election and never decided by one election,” mentioned Laphonza Butler, president of Emily’s Checklist, which backs ladies who help abortion rights and has endorsed Cisneros.
Regardless, the race will present perception in regards to the route of the Democratic Occasion. Progressives have scored some notable wins thus far this major season, defeating a average candidate in final week’s Senate major in Pennsylvania and doubtlessly unseating an incumbent congressman in Oregon, the place vote counting remains to be underway.
Keen to guard an incumbent, Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi has stood by Cuellar whilst she reaffirms her staunch help of abortion rights. Rep. Jim Clyburn, the third-ranking Democrat within the Home, campaigned with Cuellar in Texas this month, saying crucial precedence ought to be preserving the seat within the social gathering’s palms. Cisneros, he argued, was vulnerable to shedding to a Republican.
Nonetheless, a leaked draft of the court docket’s ruling in April has shaken up what was already a detailed — and more and more pricey — race. Within the March major, Cisneros completed roughly 1,000 votes behind Cuellar, forcing the runoff after neither candidate met the bulk threshold to win outright. It was as shut as Cuellar has come to shedding his 17-year grip on the seat.
However the runoff has additionally illustrated the uphill climb America’s abortion rights motion faces this fall in mounting an all-out assault on opposing incumbents — a problem that’s on show even right here in a solidly Democratic area, to say nothing of the struggle forward in Republican-leaning districts.
The end result might reveal the bounds of abortion as a galvanizing difficulty for voters. Nationwide polling earlier than the leaked draft discovered abortion trailing different issues, together with excessive inflation and gun management.
“Folks listed below are fairly liberal,” mentioned Martha Cerna, 76, a retired schoolteacher in San Antonio who helps abortion entry. “However the additional south you go in Texas, the more severe it will get.”
Cerna lives in a slice of Cuellar’s district that’s greater than a two-hour drive north of his hometown of Laredo. She had confirmed up early in downtown San Antonio for an abortion-rights march and took shade from the blazing South Texas solar in a plaza exterior Metropolis Corridor, the place the present mayor and a predecessor, former presidential candidate Julian Castro, are outspoken for abortion rights.
Cisneros joined the march, however Cerna mentioned the voters round right here aren’t those who want convincing. “That is why I believe it may be a tough promote for her, as a result of there can be some Democrats which can be going to wish to go together with Cuellar,” she mentioned.
Cisneros, who as soon as interned for Cuellar however now carries the endorsements and agenda of Democrats’ left wing, has leaned into the distinction over abortion within the last weeks.
When a grand jury in South Texas indicted a lady on homicide costs in April over a self-induced abortion, it occurred in one of many district’s rural counties. The fees had been swiftly dropped after drawing nationwide outrage, however Cisneros pointed to it as a case of prosecution for looking for well being care.
“After we take the time to speak to individuals about what it actually means to be pro-choice, which means believing authorities shouldn’t be in the course of these kind of personal selections and looking for abortion, then individuals normally understand that they’re pro-choice,” she mentioned in an interview.
Cuellar dismissed the affect of the Supreme Court docket leak at a San Antonio rally this month, saying voters know his place. His highly effective allies in Congress have defended their help for Cuellar, partly by saying a loss would open the door to Republicans flipping the district that additionally leans extra conservative in terms of gun rights and border safety.
In Laredo, the place Cuellar’s brother is the county sheriff, Gonzalez remembers taking “a whole lot of warmth” when his well being division started providing contraceptive capsules. He retired in 2019 and expressed disappointment that ladies looking for abortions needed to drive hours both to the Rio Grande Valley — which now has the one clinic on the Texas-Mexico border — or San Antonio.
At a meals truck exterior San Antonio, Citi Ramos, 64, teared up describing her opposition to abortion whereas taking a break from serving tacos and burgers to clients. She known as herself a Democrat and powerful Catholic who sometimes doesn’t get entangled in politics. However, she mentioned, Cisneros’ place is one she will’t sit out.
“I’m pushing everyone to vote,” she mentioned. “It’s a powerful difficulty for me.”
Comply with AP for full protection of the midterms at https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections and on Twitter, https://twitter.com/ap_politics
Copyright 2022 The Related Press. All rights reserved. This materials is probably not printed, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
SCHOOL: Texas
HEAD COACH: Steve Sarkisian (25-14, 4th year)
2023 RECORD: 12-1 overall, 8-1 (1st in Big 12)
RETURNING STARTERS: Offense – 5; Defense – 7, Special Teams – 1
PLAYERS TO WATCH: QB Quinn Ewers, RB Jaydon Blue, WR Silas Bolden, WR Isaiah Bond, LT Kelvin Banks Jr., Edge Ethan Burke, LB Anthony Hill, S Andrew Mukuba
VERSUS GEORGIA: October 19 (Darrell K. Royal Texas Memorial Stadium)
Last year’s Longhorn offense averaged 36 points. Can Texas keep that up in its first season in the SEC?
The fact quarterback Quinn Ewers is back after a year that saw him complete 69 percent of his passes for 3,479 yards and 22 touchdowns bodes well.
So does the fact Texas returns four of its starting offensive linemen.
The team has to replace Jonathan Brooks – the first running back taken in last April’s NFL Draft – but features some excellent returnees in CJ Baxter and Jaydon Blue, who combined for 1,057 yards last season.
There are some questions at wide receiver, but only because so many are new to the program.
Otherwise, Alabama transfer Isaiah Bond, Houston transfer Matthew Golden, and Oregon State transfer Silas Bolden accounted for 140 receptions for 1,818 yards and 15 touchdowns combined for their former teams.
Gone are defensive tackle Byron Murphy II and T’Vondre Sweat, selected in the first and second rounds of the NFL Draft.
As they did at wide receiver, the Longhorns dipped into the transfer portal to hopefully fill the voids, adding former Georgia player (Bill Norton via Arizona), Tia Savea (Arizona), and Louisville flip Jermayne Lole.
The Longhorns also hope fifth-year player Alfred Collins will be able to make a jump, and if he can, then the unit may be able to do the job.
Still, it might be a bit unfair to expect the same production as Sweat and Murphy provided a season ago.
A Week Two trip to defending national champion Michigan will give the Longhorns an excellent early test before hosting Mississippi State in its first game as an SEC member on Sept. 28.
The two weeks that follow, however, will tell the tale.
Texas and fellow SEC newcomer Oklahoma in Dallas on Oct. 12, followed on the 19th by the highly-anticipated game with Georgia.
If the Longhorns can survive that, the rest of the conference schedule is certainly manageable.
Home games against Florida and Kentucky highlight the remaining part of the conference schedule, before closing at arch-rival Texas A&M on Nov. 30.
BALTIMORE — A philosophical question: If a closer doesn’t hit 100 mph, can he still get noticed? You know, kind of like a tree falling in the woods. If nobody sees it, did it actually happen?
We may get an answer to that question in the next week when All-Star rosters are revealed. Rangers closer Kirby Yates has seemingly done everything necessary to make the AL All-Star team, other than light up a radar gun.
As players wrap up their voting for the All-Star pitching staffs this weekend, choosing three relievers, it’s hard to make a convincing case against Yates reaching the medal stand. Unless, of course, you factor in his fastball. It doesn’t light up Statcast metrics. It’s only good for getting him ahead in counts and setting up his devastating forkball. Among qualified relievers, Yates’ 93.1 mph average fastball ranks only 60th in the AL. The guys getting all the national buzz are Oakland’s Mason Miller and his 100.8 mph fastball and AL saves leader Emmanuel Clase with his 99.8 mph heater.
“I know I don’t have a fastball that lights up the radar guns,” Yates said. “But the league is filled with stuff and guys who are throwers. Guys who pitch are the outliers. But if you pitch and execute your pitches, you can be successful. I don’t think that will ever go away.”
He has pitched exceptionally well. There is not a performance-based stat in which he is weak. He began Saturday perfect in his 11 save chances this year, the only AL reliever with at least 10 opportunities and no blown saves. His ERA (0.99) was second. His batting average allowed (.134) was second. He had a WHIP below 1.00 (0.95).
Put this another way. He is the only pitcher in baseball — regardless of league — to begin the statistical second-half of the season perfect on at least 10 save chances, with a WHIP and ERA both below 1.00. There is more. He’s averaging 12.07 strikeouts per nine innings thanks to a filthy splitter and hasn’t allowed a homer.
The closest comp to Yates from a year ago was Minnesota’s Jhoan Duran, who ended June with 11 saves in 13 chances, a 1.91 ERA and a 0.94 ERA. Perhaps, it’s not best to bring this up. Duran still didn’t make the All-Star team. There were six relievers either selected or named as replacements. It included each of the top five in saves and Baltimore’s Yennier Cano, who had a 1.14 ERA and 0.86 WHIP entering July. Moral of the story: Yates’ relatively low number of saves may work against him.
If other players rely on a singular number such as saves or WAR, Yates may get overlooked. He is tied for 11th in the AL in saves and is eighth in WAR among AL relievers at 1.0, though only three-tenths of a win separates him from the No. 2 spot, which belongs to Clase.
On the other hand, if AL manager Bruce Bochy has any input, Yates will get a firm endorsement. That doesn’t carry the weight it once did. Once upon a time, the manager had a big hand in selecting the pitching staff. Now, it’s almost entirely reliant on peer votes. Bochy said this week that he would heartily endorse Yates as a reliever.
So, too, will David Robertson, the AL’s senior reliever at age 39. Robertson was an All-Star in 2010 as a setup man with the New York Yankees.
“His case is great,” said Robertson, who has a pretty solid case of his own. “His WHIP is good. His strikeouts are high. If you aren’t giving up walks and hits and you are striking out guys, what else are you supposed to do? I hope he goes.”
Yates admits it, he’d like to. He’s been an All-Star before and was even named the NL’s closer in 2019. Only problem: NL didn’t have a lead. He didn’t pitch. Since then: He missed most of three seasons with elbow issues and eventually surgery.
“I think making the team would validate a lot of things,” Yates said. “I’d love a chance to pitch, but the fact that I was named the closer that year was a real sign of respect and I appreciated that. In a perfect world, you’d get a chance to do both.”
And if everybody sees it, well, then it definitely happened.
Twitter: @Evan_P_Grant
Find more Rangers coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
Click or tap here to sign up for our Rangers newsletter.
Two county jail guards have been indicted on murder charges for the asphyxiation death of an inmate in Texas.
The indictments, dated Tuesday, charge Joel Garcia, 48, and Rafael Moreno Jr., 37, in the April death of 31-year-old former Marine Anthony Johnson Jr. at the Tarrant County jail in Fort Worth.
Attorneys for Garcia or Moreno did not immediately return phone calls and text messages for comment Friday.
Randy Moore, an attorney for Garcia, has previously said that Garcia’s role in the fight was limited and that the use of force was necessary.
“The wheels of justice continue to turn in this case,” Sheriff Bill Waybourn said in a statement. “I said from the beginning that we hold accountable anyone responsible for Mr. Johnson’s death and we are doing that.”
Waybourn, who has said Moreno wrongly placed his knee on Johnson’s back after Johnson was handcuffed and that Garcia was the supervisor, initially fired the two, but both were reinstated and placed on paid leave because the sheriff’s office said the dismissals did not follow official protocol.
The force used in Johnson’s death is intended to stop and subdue people without killing them, yet increasingly it has come under scrutiny following the 2020 death of George Floyd.
Floyd died after a Minneapolis police officer restrained him face down on the ground for nine minutes and pinned a knee to the back of Floyd’s neck, an incident that sparked outrage nationwide.
The family of Johnson, who had been arrested two days before his death for allegedly using a knife to threaten the driver of a vehicle, has called for a federal investigation of the jail. The family has told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that Johnson was suffering from a mental health crisis.
On Friday, four Missouri prison guards were charged with murder, and a fifth with accessory to involuntary manslaughter, in the December death of a Black man who was pepper-sprayed, had his face covered with a mask and was left in a position that caused him to suffocate.
Tracking a Single Day at the National Domestic Violence Hotline
What's the Least Amount of Exercise I Can Get Away With?
Supreme Court upholds law barring domestic abusers from owning guns in major Second Amendment ruling | CNN Politics
Israel accepts bilateral meeting with EU, but with conditions
Trump classified docs judge to weigh alleged 'unlawful' appointment of Special Counsel Jack Smith
Supreme Court upholds federal gun ban for those under domestic violence restraining orders
New Caledonia independence activists sent to France for detention
Is Israel’s Smotrich fulfilling his dream of annexing the West Bank?
