Dan Sanchez Says He Gets Criticized for Election Code Violations Because He's An "Independent Thinker"

"He who is faithful in a very little thing

Is faithful also in much;

And he who is unrighteous in a very little thing

Is unrighteous also in much."

St. Luke Chapter 16, Verse 10

Dan Sanchez(Brownsville Herald photo)

In Sunday's Brownsville Herald, reporter Frank Garza walked lingering County Commissioner Dan Sanchez through several apparent Texas Election Code violations in his campaign for County Judge.  A number of these indiscretions were first reported in Juan Montoya's El Rrun Rrun, but at least one in this blog.  A search in the Herald's archives revealed no mention of the violations before today's article.

Judge David Sanchez(middle of pic) wearing
"Dan Sanchez for County Judge" t-shirt

One of the apparent violations involved Dan's brother David Sanchez, a district court judge, pictured wearing a "Dan Sanchez for County Judge" t-shirt.  The Herald cited Canon 5 of the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct, which states: “a judge or judicial candidate shall not authorize the public use of his or her name endorsing another candidate for any public office, except that either may indicate support for a political party.”

Judge David Sanchez claims that before wearing a t-shirt supporting his brother's campaign, he called Seana Willing, the Executive Director of the State Commission on Judicial Conduct.  Willing, according to Sanchez claimed that the judge's right to free speech trumped the judicial canon:  “Certainly when it comes to political activities, you have to look at whether or not the judge’s free speech rights outweigh the states’ interest in regulating conduct to ensure a fair and impartial judiciary,” Willing said according to the judge.

That rationale renders Canon 5 impotent as a judge could always claim his right to free speech.

The Herald reporter also mentions a sign violation with the word "for" being so tiny that the reader might assume the candidate already held the office.  Dan Sanchez claims no one ever told him the font was too small.

As to wearing a campaign button to a County Commission meeting, Dan Sanchez says he normally takes it off, but just "forgot."

Sanchez also theorizes as to why observers have mentioned so many alleged violations in his campaign:

“You won’t always have everyone supporting you. There’s a few that may not like you because you’re not part of the establishment, and they don’t want you in office because you’re an independent thinker. You’re serving for the right reasons without owing anything to anyone,” Sanchez said.