SAN ANTONIO — Republican Texas House District 118 candidate Jorge Borrego did not attend a League of Women Voters candidate forum Wednesday, prompting organizers to cancel the event because only his Democratic opponent, Kristian Carranza, was present.
The forum at Brooks City Base was scheduled from 6 to 7 p.m. and was organized with Raise Your Hand Texas. The League had described it as a nonpartisan forum where Carranza and Borrego would answer the same questions rather than debate each other.
About 60 people had gathered at the Sydney Board Room when League of Women Voters San Antonio Area President Jill Tolbert announced that the forum could not continue without both candidates.
“The League rules are that we cannot proceed with just one candidate,” Tolbert told the audience.
Borrego cites an unresolved incident
Borrego’s supporters at the event contacted him and said he had become stuck at another event across town and could not arrive in time.
Borrego later said he had an “incident” that he could not resolve but had attempted to notify the League earlier in the day.
Event organizer Claire Oxley said she received an email from Borrego at 4:13 p.m. saying he could not attend and suggesting that the forum be rescheduled. Oxley said she had already left for the event and did not see the message until later.
Borrego told the San Antonio Report that he remains willing to appear with Carranza.
“I know many voters are eager to hear from both sides, so I would like to offer an opportunity to debate Carranza twice before election day, first in Spanish and then in English,” Borrego said.
Carranza answers questions alone
After the League canceled the forum, a representative from Raise Your Hand Texas took Borrego’s seat and asked Carranza several education-related questions.
Carranza said she was disappointed that voters could not hear from both candidates.
“I’m a little disappointed that you, as the voters, didn’t get the opportunity to hear from your two candidates,” Carranza said.
The canceled forum was one of the few publicly scheduled opportunities for voters to hear from both candidates. The two previously participated in a closed Aug. 4 forum organized by the South Texas Business Partnership, according to Carranza’s campaign. No other joint forums were scheduled ahead of the Nov. 3 election at the time of Wednesday’s event.
Texas Secretary of State records list Borrego and Carranza as the Republican and Democratic candidates for House District 118 in the Nov. 3 general election.
Race follows controversy over old posts
The forum cancellation came weeks after Borrego apologized for a series of crude social media posts dating to his high school years. The Texas Tribune reported in August that the posts had resurfaced during the campaign.
Borrego, 30, previously worked in the Texas Legislature and later served as an education policy analyst at the Texas Public Policy Foundation before entering the House race. He won the Republican nomination over trial attorney Desi Martinez.
Carranza, 35, is a Democratic political strategist and community organizer who previously ran for the same House seat.
The district is in southern Bexar County, and the Nov. 3 election will determine who succeeds Republican state Rep. John Lujan, who is not seeking reelection.
Arthur Gonzalez, 42, attended the forum hoping to meet both candidates. He said he did not know of another opportunity to see them together.
“I wanted to see both of them in the same place,” Gonzalez said. “That’s what the appeal was to me.”
