Rick Noriega

Two Texas state senators sent a letter Thursday to Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, blasting the DSCC for its lack of financial support for state Rep. Rick Noriega's (D-Houston) U.S. Senate bid against John Cornyn (R-Houston).

"The DSCC's decision is shameful and disgraceful, and we will do everything we can to prevent this disrespect from happening again," Sens. Mario Gallegos (D-Houston) and Leticia Van de Putte (D-San Antonio) wrote in the letter. "For the face of the US Senate to represent the true face of America, we must all work together to invest in quality candidates such as Rick Noriega, not take a walk when our candidate is not a member of the millionaires club." Read More >

President-elect Barack Obama's weekend selection of retired Gen. Eric Shinseki as secretary of veterans affairs means the job won't be going to state Rep. Rick Noriega (D-Houston).

Obama's choice came despite a recommendation from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to select Noriega for the post. Only one Latino, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson for commerce secretary, has been chosen so far for Obama's Cabinet, and national Hispanic leaders have said they would "definitely be disappointed" with only one Latino in the Cabinet.

According to The Dallas Morning News, a source close to Noriega says he may still be on the radar screen for other Cabinet posts, adding that Noriega was "very excited just to be on (Obama's) radar screen."

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The Congressional Hispanic Caucus is pushing former Laredo Mayor Saul Ramirez and U.S. Rep. Ruben Hinojosa (D-Mercedes) for positions in President-elect Barack Obama's administration.

The San Antonio Express-News reports that Ramirez is backed for secretary of housing and urban development, while Hinojosa is on the list for secretary of education.

"There is no doubt that Rick Noriega and Ramirez are being discussed," U.S. Rep. Charlie Gonzalez (D-San Antonio), the chairman of the Caucus task force on nominations, told the Express-News.

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The Congressional Hispanic Caucus is pushing state Rep. Rick Noriega (D-Houston) for secretary of veterans affairs, the Houston Chronicle reports.

With only one Latino selected for President-elect Barack Obama's Cabinet so far, Hispanic leaders have become frustrated in recent weeks at the lack of Hispanic representation in the Obama administration.

To that end, U.S. Rep. Charlie Gonzalez (D-San Antonio) and U.S. Rep. Joe Baca (D-Calif.) sent a letter Tuesday to Obama's transition team, recommending Noriega and 13 other Hispanic politicians for various posts within the Cabinet.

Baca told Bloomberg News that Caucus members would "definitely be disappointed" if only one Latino was chosen for the cabinet. Bloomberg reports that Baca "warned that Obama's legislative agenda could be jeopardized if the president-elect doesn't nominate additional Hispanics."

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The AP reports that U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-San Antonio) defeated state Rep. Rick Noriega (D-Houston). 

According to the report, Cornyn won his second term after “casting himself as a Washington outsider.”

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State Rep. Rick Noriega (D-Houston) will spend the final day of his 2008 U.S. Senate campaign in the state's two largest metropolitan areas. According to his spokeswoman Holly Shulman, Noriega will spend the morning at polling locations in Dallas and Fort Worth.

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It may be the weekend, but campaigns are not slowing down just a few days before Election Day. Here's what some campaigns are doing this weekend.  

U.S. Senate

State Rep. Rick Noriega (D-Houston) is campaigning in the Rio Grande Valley Saturday. He will return to Houston Saturday evening and spend time in Houston area churches Sunday.

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A just released University of Texas poll shows Republicans John McCain and John Cornyn leading Democrats Barack Obama and Rick Noriega in their respective contests in the Lone Star state. The poll's more striking finding, however, is that nearly one in four Texans believe Democrat Barack Obama is Muslim.

In the presidential head-to-head, McCain leads Obama 51 percent to 40 percent among registered voters.  McCain has led the Illinois Democrat by similar margins in multiple Rasmussen state tracking surveys.

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State Rep. Rick Noriega stumps in Williamson County: Politicker photoROUND ROCK - When state Rep. Rick Noriega's "Road to Victory" tour stopped here Wednesday evening, he told about 50 supporters why he is undeterred in his Senate bid, how Williamson County will turn purple this year and why CNN's John King will report the county put him over the top on election night.

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said state Rep. Rick Noriega is running a "smear campaign" against the lawmaker. In an email to supporters, Rob Jesmer laid out his case why the Houston Democrat has run a "thoroughly unimpressive campaign."

Jesmer questioned Noriega's character because he has not publicly denounced a comment Karl-Thomas Musselman made Oct. 24 on the progressive website DailyKos.  Musselman has served as Noriega's online coordinator and also runs the prominent left-of-center blog, Burnt Orange Report.

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