About Peña
Aaron Peña will be the first Republican to represent our District in deep South Texas in over a century.
Aaron has said switching parties was a tough decision. But he had become increasingly more disillusioned with the Democratic Party, which he said is increasingly representative of a highly vocal, highly intolerant fringe of the party. Peña said Democrats have turned away from conservatives and moderates and pushed the party too far to the left.
“I came to realize that although I had spent nearly forty years of my life as a Democrat I still had another good thirty years left as a Republican ahead of me and I wanted to make the best of it.…I want to make a difference.”
Peña understands that as a Republican in deep South Texas he has a tough task ahead of him but it is not an insurmountable one. Although Hidalgo County remains a Democratic stronghold, Representative Peña believes that voters in his legislative district are ready to assert their independence and send him back to Austin as the first Republican to represent this community in over a century.
South Texans like the rest of the country are fed up with Democratic leaders that put government and bureaucracy ahead of jobs and opportunity. This legislative session the state of Texas faced tough budget choices just like many families and businesses face during this troubled economy. The model followed in Washington and by Democratic leaders in Texas is to raise taxes first and ask questions later. Unlike Washington D.C., in Texas we only spend what we’ve got and so after some tough choices the legislature passed a balanced budget without raising taxes.
The model in Washington and Democratic leaders in Texas is to raise taxes first and ask questions later. President Obama’s record is burdened by a Washington that refuses to control federal spending and record debt. In 2006 the unemployment rate for our area was 7.8 percent. In 2011 that rate has jumped to 12.6%, and for Hispanics unemployment has risen to an unacceptable level of 11.3%. Two of every five dollars we spend is borrowed from creditors. Home values are almost one-third lower than they were five years ago.