Shergold challenges Oliveira for seat in Austin

John Shergold received a special gift from his 10-year-old niece, Giovanna Villarreal, when he announced his bid for District 37 state representative. “Tio Roca, here are your running shoes,” she said.

Shergold embarked on a campaign to unseat Rep. Rene Oliveira, D-Brownsville, who has held the seat for 24 years, in the Democratic Party’s upcoming March primary.

“It’s time for a change,” Shergold said.

Ethics, consumer protection, education and quality of life make up Shergold’s four-point platform.

Shergold said that unlike Oliveira, he will not accept gifts such as the $1,000 in tickets to Spurs games that Oliveira received from lobbyists representing special interests such as TXU Energy Corp. He then opposed legislation that would have protected citizens from higher electric rates, Shergold said.

“My mentor taught me to never take gifts from lobbyists,” Shergold said of the late state Sen. Doyle Willis, D-Fort Worth.

Shergold says that Oliveira represents special interests, while he pledges to represent the state’s working class — teachers, firemen, custodians and small businessmen.

“That is the major difference between me and my opponent,” the 43-year-old lawyer said.

“The only time I see my opponent these days is when I look at a billboard.”

Shergold also is a former municipal prosecutor, Brownsville assistant city attorney, and assistant district attorney for Cameron County. He is a contract prosecutor for the district attorney’s office for all justice of the peace cases in the county.

A native of Fort Worth, he has called Brownsville home for nearly 10 years. Shergold is a graduate of Texas Christian University and Texas Southern University law school. He is a board member of the Criminal Justice Institute at the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College and a former precinct chairman of the Democratic Party.

Shergold is married to the former Dalia Villarreal.