State Sen. Cesar Blanco leaning on experience in reelection bid for Texas Senate

Despite multiple special sessions, an impeachment trial and right-wing GOP domination that defined the 88th session of the Texas Legislature, state Sen. Cesar Blanco says he is ready to get back to work.

Blanco, D-El Paso, who officially announced his Texas Senate reelection campaign in late September, points to the more than 30 bills he passed in 2023 as proof of his effectiveness at the state Capitol in Austin.

More: State Sen. Cesar Blanco vows to 'keep fighting' for El Paso if reelected to Texas Senate

“When you look at what we were able to accomplish as a Democrat representing a district that's mainly Democratic, but has counties that (former president Donald) Trump won, several counties, we did very well," Blanco said. "I think it speaks to how there is bipartisanship and I think that’s important for our community.

“I’m very focused on delivering for my district rather than playing politics. My North Star is people over politics.”

That "North Star" has served him well over the course of his more than eight years in the Texas Legislature — six years in the Texas House of Representatives and two in the Texas Senate — and he believes it will continue to serve him and, more importantly, his constituents in Texas Senate District 29 if he is reelected next year.

He is seeking reelection in the November 2024 general election. To date, Blanco, president of Mosaic Media Strategy Group, is not facing opposition in the March 2024 primary.

Texas Senate District 29 includes El Paso, Brewster, Culberson, Hudspeth, Jeff Davis, Pecos, Presidio and Reeves counties.

"The Texas Senate is somewhere where you can deliver for your community," Blanco said. "If a politician is being extremely careful because they're looking for the next move, I don't think they're doing their job."

Blanco's record in Legislature

With so many bills under his belt following this year's legislative session, Blanco still counts bills passed during his earliest days in the Texas Legislature among his biggest accomplishments.

During his freshman year in the House, Blanco led the charge in passing the Hazelwood Act, which provides veterans and their family members with up to 150 hours of college tuition exemption.

During a floor debate, lawmakers were looking to roll back some of the benefits the bill provided and cut out veterans' dependents, but Blanco was able to "turn the tide" when he took to the floor and reminded legislators that it was their job to keep their promise to veterans.

"I'm proud that I was able to fight for that benefit," Blanco said.

During the 87th legislative session, the Legislature passed the Vanessa Guillen Act, which allows service members who have been victims of sexual assault to report the crime and seek justice outside of the military.

Guillen, a soldier in the U.S. Army, was murdered by a fellow soldier stationed at Fort Hood in April 2020. She told her mother that she was being sexually harassed by an unnamed sergeant but never reported the infraction to military leaders.

"That bill was a bill we had worked on long before Vanessa was tragically murdered," Blanco recalled. "But as a result of her murder, she brought light to this issue."

Despite pushback from the Texas Military Department, lawmakers approved the bill — shortly thereafter, Congress approved a similar bill.

But being a senator is more than just passing bills, Blanco said.

"We have legislative accomplishments that we're really excited about, we've got local projects we're working on that I think are going to help El Paso's future and then we also have several constituent services events that provide services to individuals on an individual basis," he said.

Among the most recent legislative victories are the historic $18 billion property tax relief bill, as well as other Blanco-authored bills aimed at reimbursing landowners for property damage sustained during the commission of a border crime and another to make more Texans eligible for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.

More: State Sen. Cesar Blanco recognized for work to address food insecurity in Texas

Where upcoming projects are concerned, Blanco noted that lawmakers this year secured funding for a bevy of El Paso projects, including $65 million for a comprehensive cancer center, $50 million for a new psychiatric health center, $20 million for the Wyler Aerial Tramway Park and $10 million toward establishing a new crime lab.

Blanco also engages in a number of efforts to directly assist residents, including workshops to assist people filing immigration paperwork, box fan and turkey giveaways, free tax preparation and distributing thousands of backpacks to students in need.

'Comfortable' with vote to impeach Ken Paxton

The impeachment trial of Attorney General Ken Paxton was the first in Texas since the 1970s and the weight of that historic proceeding was not lost on Blanco, who was among the senators who served as jurors in the impeachment trial.

"It's rare to have an impeachment," Blanco said. "It did weigh heavily on me, the fact that this was a historic event. It was a serious issue that I took seriously.

"When I put my hand on Sam Houston's Bible," he added, "I took an oath to look at the facts, to look at the evidence, to be impartial and use my best judgment on the evidence before me to decide whether the impeachment should continue."

And although the Texas Senate voted 16-14 to acquit Paxton on all 16 articles of impeachment, with only two Republicans joining 12 Democrats to vote in favor of impeachment, Blanco ultimately voted in favor of 15 of the articles.

More: Not guilty: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton acquitted in impeachment trial

On one, he said, the evidence was largely circumstantial and not beyond a reasonable doubt.

"I had reasonable doubt on that article," he said. "The evidence presented, for me, was not enough to vote on that specific article to impeach."

And while he's confident that he made the right decision, Blanco believes it's time to move past the hearings and the verdict and get back to work.

"I feel comfortable in my decision," he said. "This decision was a bipartisan decision ... and at the end of the day, we saw the result and, as a result, we need to move forward and continue our work in the Legislature, and continue to focus, and adhere to the rule of law in the state of Texas."

Seeking compromise on key Texas issues

A state senator has dual roles: on one hand, he must represent the needs and views of the constituents in his district; on the other, he must make decisions that impact every resident of the state.

Among those statewide issues currently plaguing Texas lawmakers is the question of school vouchers, which Blanco will have to weigh in on during yet another special session.

Blanco said he has heard concerns from rural school districts worried tax dollars would be diverted to urban private schools, as well as dismay over the possibility of taxpayer dollars being used to "subsidize wealthy families."

"As I listen to school administrators and teacher groups and parents ... the vast majority don't support vouchers," he said. "This is a very public school-focused community. At the end of the day, if individuals are upset with our public school system, common sense tells you that you can't underfund something and expect results."

That takes investment in teachers, students, facilities and the education system as a whole, he added.

"That's when you're going to start seeing outcomes," Blanco said. "Texas, in my opinion, has not kept up with other states in providing for public education, which is a constitutional duty. I think we've fallen short."

With three mass shootings in Texas since the 2019 mass shooting at an El Paso Walmart, including the Uvalde school shooting in 2022, action on state gun laws continues to be a contentious issue among lawmakers and has proven difficult to gain ground on.

Blanco filed a number of bills in the wake of the Texas Safety Action Report released in September 2019, many based on recommendations laid out in the report, but he had little success.

More: Abortion rights, gun safety emerge as priorities for El Paso state legislators

"I filed most of the legislation that was in that report," Blanco said. "Obviously, this is a very pro-2nd Amendment state and those bills didn't pass."

One did, however. The "Lie and Try" bill created a state offense to lie on a background check to purchase a firearm. Blanco said he was able to work with Senate Republicans to get the bill passed.

"That's one measure, I think, it's one step forward in the state of Texas that we've taken," he said. "Can we do more? Absolutely. Am I committed to introducing more bills to protect our community? Absolutely."

Following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision last year to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision giving women the right to an abortion in 1973, Texas became one of the most restrictive states in the nation in terms of abortion access.

Blanco recalls being at the center of the debate over the bill, HB 1280, that would ultimately make abortion nearly illegal in the state.

"Obviously , this is going to impact women’s ability to get reproductive health care," Blanco said. "And my worry is that women are going to start going to Juárez or going to New Mexico … and it’s unfortunate.”

Blanco doesn't expect the restrictions to end there, noting that he has already received word of coming legislation aimed at outlawing certain medications related to reproductive health, as well as a bill to establish penalties for insurance companies that allow for a woman to seek an abortion outside of the state.

"It's tough," he lamented. "Elections have consequences and I think until people get into campaigns and elections, or actively reach out to their legislators to talk about how their reproductive rights are being taken away from them, we'll see the status quo and these types of bills will continue to come."

Despite the big issues facing Blanco as he looks toward another term in the U.S. Senate, he said is committed to the work of compromise to deliver for El Paso.

"That's my focus and I think the Senate is a great place to be able to support your community," he said. "Politics is what rewards some individuals, but I'm not here for that. I'm here to do what I can, where I can, while I can, because at the end of the day, I want to be able to help my community."

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: State Sen. Cesar Blanco makes his pitch to continue serving El Paso