SAN ANTONIO – With the Nov. 6 election now just over a month away, San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro did not reveal specific polling data, saying only that he feels good about his "Pre-K 4 SA" initiative's prospects.
"The scientific polling that's been done has shown that's it's passing comfortably," Castro said.
However, George Rodriguez, the former local president of the San Antonio Tea Party, said he is skeptical.
Rodriguez said, "I think they're sweating bullets and we don't see them with a comfortable lead at all. Quite the contrary, we see them going down in flames."
Now the president of the new South Texas Political Alliance, Rodriguez said he expects their scientific polling results in a few days will show that.
"Across the board, we are seeing citizens stand up and say, no, we don't want another tax," Rodriguez said.
Castro said he was expecting a conservative backlash to his proposed eighth of a cent sales tax increase to provide full-day Pre-K classes for 5,700 eligible 4-year-olds in city-sponsored centers.
In a city of 1.7 million with 700,000 registered voters, Castro said there are considerably more Pre-K 4 SA supporters.
"When I get out in the neighborhoods, that's what I hear," Castro said, and their polls prove that.
The mayor said unofficial, unscientific web polls that show the initiative trailing don't have much value.
"These web polls are a repository for the most negative critics out there," Castro said.
Rodriguez said his alliance represents 20 different groups and 20,000 Bexar County residents.
"In typical, arrogant, liberal political fashion, he doesn't want to hear us," Rodriguez said.
The mayor said it was about children whose young brains are ripe for learning.
"Once we lost that opportunity, we're creating another generation that's behind in our city," Castro said.