By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Val Verde County voters resoundingly chose incumbents to return to their seats on county commissioners court and picked new faces for the office of district clerk and in two justice of the peace seats in the general election on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
Candidates, family members, friends and supporters began gathering outside the historic Val Verde County Courthouse on Pecan Street as soon as the polls closed at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
County Clerk Teresa Esther Chapoy came out of the front doors of the courthouse at 9:20 p.m. Tuesday and announced she would be giving the unofficial totals for each of the races on local ballots, including the results of early voting and votes cast on Election Day.
Incumbent County Judge Lewis G. Owens Jr., the Democratic Party nominee, won an overwhelming re-election victory over his Republican Party challenger, former County Commissioner Pct. 3, business owner and rancher Robert “Beau” Nettleton. Owens had an unofficial total of 7,572 votes, and Nettleton posted an unofficial total of 4,047 votes.
County Commissioner Pct. 2 Juan Carlos Vazquez and County Commissioner Pct. 4 Gustavo “Gus” Flores will also return to their seats on county commissioners court.
Vazquez, the incumbent and Democratic Party nominee, handily beat his Republican Party challenger Rey Robles. Vazquez earned an unofficial total of 1,361 votes, and Robles had an unofficial total of 892 votes.
Flores’ re-election bid was one of the closest races on the ballot, but Flores, the incumbent and Democratic Party nominee, edged his challenger, Republican Party nominee John I. Wardlaw, by less than 100 votes. Flores garnered an unofficial total of 1,431 votes, and Wardlaw posted an unofficial total of 1,352 votes.
There will be a new face in the district clerk’s office: Mary Jane Ross, the Republican Party nominee. Ross had an unofficial total of 6,026 votes, and her Democratic Party opponent, Rachel Magallanes, had an unofficial total of 5,449 votes. The incumbent district clerk, Jo Ann Cervantes, did not seek re-election and will retire from county service at the end of the year.
There will also be two new faces among the four county justices of the peace, but two sitting justices will return to the bench.
In the race for Justice of the Peace Pct. 1, the incumbent and Democratic Party nominee, Jesse James Trevino, handily defeated his Republican Party challenger, Mario Bosquez. Trevino posted an unofficial total of 1,624 votes, and Bosquez had an unofficial total of 785 votes.
Del Rio Police Department veteran Roberto “Bobby” Hernandez will be the next Justice of the Peace Pct. 2. Hernandez, the Democratic Party nominee, earned an unofficial total of 1,312 votes, and the sitting Justice of the Peace Pct. 2 J. Randel Dissler, the Republican Party nominee, had an unofficial total of 822 votes. A third, write-in candidate James Fernandez, earned an unofficial total of 119 votes.
Republican Party nominee Ashly Vicuña, who currently serves as chief deputy in the office of Justice of the Peace Pct. 3 Pat Cole, overwhelmingly defeated the Democratic Party nominee, Loida S. Arellano. Vicuña posted an unofficial total of 2,727 votes, and Arellano had an unofficial total of 1,412 votes. Cole did not seek re-election and will retire at the end of the year.
Justice of the Peace Pct. 4 Hilda Lopez was unopposed in her re-election bid. Lopez, a Democrat, earned an unofficial total of 2,154 votes.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com.
