Sofia Benavides: Aging On The Job...Perhaps Too Much...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

BROWNSVILLE, Texas | That's a nice photo of her above, but Sofia Benavides is a bit older now. Like, almost 73 years old. Well, 73 in December. That's old in today's politics, even at the local level, where young whippersnappers are lately coming out of the woodwork to run for public office.

Not to harp on age here, but age is playing front-center across the wrinkled, weathered faces of some of the country's better-known politicians, like Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (shown in photo below, at right) and Democrat Dianne Feinstein (shown with McConnell). McConnell, who suffered through a bizarre physical freeze-up in front of microphone this week in Washington, D.C., is 81.

Miss Feinstein, U.S. Senator from California since 1992, is 90 years old. Reportedly, she had trouble staying up with a hearing on Capitol Hill this week, not that long after a lengthy stay in her home state to take care of health problems. Hey, 90 is very old.

Sofia Benavides is not in that sort of bad shape.

But she's getting old.

She is and has been the Precinct 1 commissioner for Cameron County government since 2006, or shortly after her husband, Pedro, died while holding the same office. Miss Benavides has won reelection ever since then.

Her public service has not been anything spectacular, although much is said about her calm & collected, non-confrontational approach to politics. She was somewhat instrumental in helping bring the SpaceX enterprise to the county (in her precinct, over by South Padre Island).

As far as we know, Miss Benavides as yet does not have an opponent in her next reelection campaign. The odds of someone - or several other opportunistic individuals - emerging between now and the end of the year are high. She may be vulnerable if for no other reason than because she is a woman.

That plays in antsy Cameron County.

But, as always with her, the choice will again be between some noisy, likely hat-and-bad-mustache male upstart and her well-known self-possessed, unruffled style.

Could one of her opponents play the Age Card and more than insinuate that she is now too old?

Without a doubt, it says here...

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