The 41st Annual Fiestas Patrias parade was held in downtown Houston this morning under cloudy skies and a continual threat of rain. That didn't seem to bother the thousands of people that came out to watch. The Grand Marshal's this year were La Mafia, a popular, 4 time Grammy Award winning Latino band. There were enough floats, horses, marching bands, twirlers, and vaqueros to satisfy all of the lookers on.

And politicians, there were lots and lots of politicians. All three major candidates for Mayor of Houston were there: Peter Brown, Gene Locke and Annise Parker each walked the entire parade route. No resting for these candidates. Notably missing: perennial candidate Roy Morales, the only conservative running in this years race.In fact, the only Republican in the parade was Harris County Tax Assessor/Collector Leo Vasquez. Current Houston City Council At-Large 5 Candidate Carlos Obando did have a street team there passing out flyers but wasn't in the parade. I think he is a Republican because he ran on the GOP primary last year for HD-134, but his website doesn't mention party affiliation.

Although it was a lot of fun and I enjoyed all of the festivities, the reason I went was very simple. I wanted to see if the Harris County Republican Party leadership, under the helm of Chairman Jared Woodfill, would make their presence felt. Once again, as with the AFL-CIO BBQ Labor Day weekend, I was disappointed. There was no presence at all from the HCRP, period. As I mentioned Leo Vasquez was there but he has yet to win an election, being appointed by Commissioners Court to replace former Tax Assessor/Collector Paul Bettencourt. Perhaps Mr. Vasquez will take on a leadership role in the party and convince them that it isn't enough to talk about reaching out to non-traditional voters, you have to actually reach out to them.

Just a guess here, but daring to write this will bring yet more complaints my way. More about "hidden agendas" and such. Like I'm some sort of plant by the Democratic Party and am secretly trying to help them. Nothing could be further from the truth, of course, but that is what I'm going to hear. But as the banner above says, I'm going to state the truth, regardless of which thin skinned person is bothered by it. The truth is that the HCRP should have been in this parade and made it known that they were coming after traditional Democratic Party voters. Period.

A few pictures from the day, click here for a slideshow.

State Sen. Mario Gallegos says Viva La Mexico!

Annise Parker looks for votes.

Carol Alvarado takes a Yellow Cab.

County Commissioner Sylvia Garcia.

Pretty girls were everywhere.

Peter Brown says vote for me!

Johnny Mata has the right idea.

Harris County Democratic Party float.

Gene Locke having a great time.

Leo Vasquez 'gets' it.

That's all, folks!