Houston Chronicle recommends Mano DeAyala in Republican primary for Texas House District 133

There are primary races in which voters have to strain their eyes looking for a qualified candidate. And then there’s the Republican race for Texas House District 133, which offers a deep field of accomplished contenders. All five candidates have clear strengths and all deserve thorough consideration from GOP voters as they seek to replace longtime Rep. Jim Murphy, who is retiring. We recommend Mano DeAyala, an attorney with years of civic leadership who’s focused on criminal justice. A senior partner of Buck Keenan LLP, DeAyala, 54, said his parents fled Cuba before he was born. He said his background has led him to believe in the “Texas miracle” of opportunity and freedom, which he’s working to preserve. His civic engagement resume is lengthy and varied: he chaired Engage Texas, a well-funded conservative organization focused on voter registration.

He’s been on the boards of the Hispanic Leadership Alliance and the Hispanic Republicans of Texas since 2012, and as chairman since 2017. He’s been a youth football coach for more than a decade. DeAyala said a top legislative priority would be to keep violent offenders behind bars. Since 2017, he’s served on a nine-person board that oversees the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. While on the TDCJ board he chaired the finance committee and also helped lead its recidivism work. “What I've been doing for 30 years as a lawyer is explaining good ideas to juries,” DeAyala said. “And that's what we want in this district — such an important district in this state — someone who's going to be that person to bring that competence and trustworthiness to be believable and be followed.” His campaign boasts endorsements from the Houston Region Business Coalition, Bienvenido In Action, the Texas Home School Coalition and a lengthy list of individuals. DeAyala has raised well over $300,000 since his campaign began last fall, and has $191,155 on hand as of the end of January. We are less impressed by DeAyala’s involvement with Operation Lone Star, Gov. Greg Abbott’s plan to jail migrants near the border on state trespassing charges. That plan has backfired by undermining the Trump-era policies still under effect, and has been linked to pay disputes, mental health concerns and low morale among National Guard service members assigned to the operation.