Texas House District 77: Rep. Marisa Marquez defeats Lyda Ness-Garcia

March 05--Incumbent state Rep. Marisa Marquez, D-El Paso, won a fourth term in office Tuesday after easily defeating challenger Lyda Ness-Garcia for the District 77 Texas House seat.

"I have nothing but immense gratitude for my family, volunteers and supporters who participated with me in this," Marquez said after winning by a two-to-one margin.

The seat has no Republican challenger, so Marquez will return to the Capitol..

Also easily winning re-election were incumbent state Reps. Mary E. Gonzalez in District 75 and Joe Pickett in District 79. Neither had Republican challengers.

Gonzalez, 30, faced Rey "Coach" Sepulveda in the primary, and will serve her second term. The 57-year-old Pickett, who faced Chuck Peartree in the primary, has been in office since 1994.

Although the District 77 race was billed as one of the most heated among the El Paso County legislative delegation, Marquez said she wouldn't characterize it as such.

"I don't think of it that way. It was an opportunity to talk about our record and let voters decide," Marquez said. "We put out facts, dealt in truths and talked about issues important to our community."

Marquez, 35, served as vice president of operations for JAR Insurance. She was first elected to state office in 2008, becoming the first woman to represent District 77 in the Texas Legislature.

Among her accomplishments, Marquez said she was instrumental in bills that created the county Ethics Commission, subjected colonias to platting rules and building inspections, and secured funding for the Texas Tech medical school and the University of Texas at El Paso.

"Now we move forward with the same fervor for El Paso," Marquez said, adding that she was ready to work with everyone and anyone who takes office as part of the El Paso legislative delegation.

District 77 encompasses Downtown, the West Side up to Doniphan Drive and a strip of the Northeast side along Dyer Street up to Loop 375.

Ness-Garcia, 42, a family law attorney, questioned Marquez's loyalty to the Democratic Party, citing donations the incumbent received from contributors who had also given to Republicans Gov. Rick Perry as well as gubernatorial candidate Attorney General Greg Abbott.

Marquez denied those claims, saying contributors don't sway her votes. She said she supports Wendy Davis, the Democrat running for governor against Abbott.

The founder of Stand with El Paso Women and El Paso for Equality, Ness-Garcia campaigned as being a progressive Democrat who wanted to restore adequate state funding to help children and families.

Ness-Garcia last month filed a police report after reporting she was assaulted outside her home--calling the act political. She hasn't released any details of the incident, but indirectly used the alleged assault in an email appeal for campaign donations.

She had previously run unsuccessfully for judicial and city races. She had filed for bankruptcy last year, and settled more than $200,0000 in federal income-tax liens and $4,000 in state ethics fines.

Cindy Ramirez may be reached at 546-6151.

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