Noriega Meets the Press

Noriega attended an event in Houston this afternoon, where he made himself available for questions from the press. Here's the H-Chron's audio of the gaggle.

Below -- some of the questions and answers regarding today's shakeup in the Senate race. He has kind words for Watts, comments on the road ahead, and stops short of endorsing Carol Alvarado, the Houston city councilwoman who is running for his seat in the Texas House.

Opening remarks:
I have a great deal of respect for Mikal for putting himself out there... He and I are going to be working together and I'm very pleased for having his support.

What does Watts' withdrawal mean for your campaign?
It helps us better focus now on the in-state, which is that Texas needs to change. We've had six years now of just broken policies, whether it's the war policy or domestic policy. So now we'll be able to sharpen our message and our focus on sharing with every Texan why we need a change and we neednew leadership that has walked the walk, whether we're talking about the war, or border issues or working in a bipartisan way...

Does this make you the lock for the nomination?
Well, I'm going to continue to work hard. Obviously the filing deadline isn't until at least the 2nd of January, so I make no assumptions. So, other than that we have several days until the filing deadline, and I'm going to continue to work hard and travel the state and try to increase our support as we move forward.

Is Texas ready for a Hispanic senator?
I don't know the answer to that, I guess that's why we have elections. I can tell you this though -- I'm an American and I'm a Texan, and I think that we're at a time in our history where Americans and Texans are tired of folks trying to divide us. And they want leadership that tries to bring folks together, and that's what our campaign is going to be about.

Would you support Carol Alvarado to replace you in the Texas House?
I think Carol has been a tireless worker, she works extremely hard, she's a dear friend of mine. My predecessor when she stepped down said this district seat belongs to the people it doesnt belong to her, I think she set a good precedent when she said that. I think we have elections and the competition, and raising the discourse is important, so we'll see who all gets in. I will support whoever the nominee is out of the democratic primary.