By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
The race for mayor of Del Rio will go to a runoff, election officials said Saturday.
Incumbent Mayor Al Arreola, who is seeking a second term, secured his place on the runoff ballot by drawing the most votes in the 2026 Uniform Election, which also included races for three other seats on the Del Rio City Council, four seats on the local public school board and the hospital board.
Five candidates challenged Arreola for the office of mayor: Jim DeReus, who currently serves as the District 1 representative and the mayor pro-tem of the city council; Efrain V. Valdez, who previously served as mayor of Del Rio and as Val Verde County judge; Lazaro “Laz” Castro, Ryan Horning and Arturo Rodriguez.
Arreola, Valdez and DeReus, along with family members, friends and supporters, gathered outside the county courthouse after polls closed at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Val Verde County Clerk Teresa Esther Chapoy, who administered the election, stepped out of the courthouse to read early voting results at 7:50 p.m., less than an hour after polls closed.
Chapoy announced 1,910 of the 21,422 registered voters cast early ballots in person at the Del Rio Civic Center. She also said 133 absentee ballots were cast in the city election.
She then announced unofficial early voting totals in the mayor’s race: Arreola, 609; Valdez, 604; DeReus, 584; Castro, 132; Horning, 67; and Rodriguez, 41.
Chapoy returned at 8:26 p.m. to announce unofficial total results, which included early votes and Election Day ballots. (To see the reading of the results, go here.)
She said a total of 2,738 people voted in the city election.
The unofficial totals in the mayor’s race were: Arreola, 829; Valdez, 792; DeReus, 775; Castro, 178; Horning, 97; and Rodriguez, 54.
After the totals were announced, Cynthia Reyes, a member of the county clerk’s election staff, addressed the runoff.
“For sure, Al Arreola will be in the runoff. The second place is dependent on what happens in the next couple days. We do have 65 city absentee ballots still pending that have not come in,” Reyes said.
She explained ballots postmarked by Election Day and received by 5 p.m. Monday will be counted and could determine whether Valdez or DeReus advances to the runoff.
“I think Valdez is ahead by 18 votes, so we have to wait and see what comes in on Monday,” Reyes said.
Arreola said after the announcement he is prepared for another runoff.
“It’s not new to me. Last time that I did this, I was in a runoff with Mr. (Virgil) Armstrong, so today we’re starting over again,” Arreola said. “I’m hoping that there’s not voter fatigue, and they’ll be willing to come out again. We’re going to work it.”
DeReus said he would not stress about the remaining ballots.
“If you think about it, let’s say all 65 of those ballots show up… I would need to get about 29 of the 40 to beat him. That’s not likely,” DeReus said. “I gave it a shot, and I worked hard… but it didn’t happen.”
Reached Sunday morning, Valdez said he expected a runoff from the start.
“When you have six candidates, you are for sure looking at a runoff,” Valdez said.
Valdez added he was pleased with his share of the vote.
“When you look at it like that, you can say that 70 percent of the city voted against the mayor… There is still support out there,” he said.
Valdez also pointed to changes in other races as a sign of voter sentiment.
“All of the candidates people voted in are brand-new… the city is ready for a whole changeup… I’m very optimistic,” Valdez said.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com .
