By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Political newcomer Esther Chapoy has won the election for Val Verde County Clerk.
Val Verde County Commissioners Court canvassed the local ballots cast in the 2022 General Election during its regular term meeting this morning and voted unanimously to approve the results.
The officially canvassed results show Chapoy, the Republican Party nominee for county clerk, had a total of 4,707 votes, and the incumbent Democrat, Generosa “Janie” Ramon, had a total of 4,583 votes.
In a second closely contested race, incumbent Democrat Jo Ann Cervantes was re-elected to the position of District Clerk. Cervantes had a total of 4,792 votes, while her Republican challenger, Fabby Aguilera, had a total of 4,506 votes.
As of press-time Tuesday, it was unknown whether or not Ramon and Aguilera will seek recounts.
Chapoy attended the county commissioners court meeting, though she did not speak publicly.
After the meeting, the 830 Times reached Chapoy by phone.
“I can’t wait to get started. That’s what I’m thinking about; I just can’t wait to get started,” Chapoy said when asked her thoughts about winning the county clerk race.
Chapoy, a retired Customs and Border Protection agent, said she would set the priorities for the office once she is sworn in on Jan. 1, 2023.
“Since I don’t really know exactly what is important, what is at the top of the list, because I don’t know exactly what I’m going to walk into. I need to walk in there first, and then I’ll be able to say, ‘Okay, this needs to be done first’,” she said.
Chapoy has never before run for public office and said she ascribes her success in the election to her faith.
“I think what led to my success is that I prayed about it. I left it in God’s hands. Everything that I did, I asked God, ‘Guide me and show me what to say and what to do and how to do it.’ I had all kinds of people telling me all kinds of things like, ‘You need to put a sign over here; you don’t have a sign over here. Your opponent has a sign over here, and you don’t have one. Go to the people there, and they’ll let you put a sign,’ and I was like, I’m not in a sign war. I’m just going to do what I feel I need to do, and I put the signs up until they ran out,” Chapoy said.
Chapoy said she would like to thank the people of Val Verde County.
“They really came out to vote, and I was very pleasantly surprised. I think a lot of Republicans came out, and a lot of Democrats came out, and I think that’s really great, so I want to thank the people of Val Verde County. I only won by 124, so my opponent fought hard, too,” she said.
—
Contact the author at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com
