By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
There will likely be a runoff election to determine the local Democratic Party’s nominee for County Commissioner Precinct 1.
Voters casting ballots in Tuesday’s Democratic Party Primary Election selected the incumbent County Tax Assessor Collector Elodia “Loly” Garcia as their nominee for the office.
Garcia trounced her opponent in the primary, Maite H. Rivera, an employee of the county sheriff’s office, by 640 votes.
According to unofficial vote totals announced by County Clerk Teresa Esther Chapoy Tuesday night, Garcia had 1,188 votes, and Rivera had 548 votes.
Garcia must now face a Republican Party challenger in the November General Election.
The vote tallies won’t be official until the rest of the mail-in ballots are received by the county clerk’s office and the final ballot numbers are canvassed by county commissioners court.
The mail-in ballots still out may make a difference for candidates in the County Commissioner Precinct 1 race.
A total of seven Democratic Party candidates filed for the position after the incumbent, Martin Wardlaw, announced he wouldn’t seek re-election.
Wardlaw’s son, Kerr Wardlaw, was the top vote-getter of the seven candidates who filed for the seat. Wardlaw had an unofficial total of 211 votes.
But that may not be enough to win the party’s nomination for the seat outright.
If not, Wardlaw will be in a runoff with either Enrique Treviño or Sergio Diaz. Treviño had an unofficial total of 125 votes in the race, and Diaz had an unofficial total of 124 votes.
The mail-in ballots still outstanding could decide which of the two candidates will face Wardlaw in the May 28 runoff election unless Wardlaw pulls enough of the mail-in ballots to win the nomination outright.
Of the remaining four candidates in the County Commissioner Pct. 1 race, former Del Rio Mayor Bruno Lozano had 93 votes; Sergio Rodriguez had 83 votes; Carlos “Charlie” Robles had 38 votes; and David Allen Medina had 27 votes.
The eventual winner of the Democratic Party nomination for County Commissioner Pct. 1 will then face the Republican Party nominee, Alfinio “Al” Flores, in the November General Election.
A number of other Democrats seeking county offices were unopposed in their party’s primary election, though several will face Republican Party opponents in November.
Those candidates and their unofficial vote totals are as follows:
- County Attorney: David E. Martinez (Incumbent), 1,475 votes.
- Sheriff: Jose Francisco “Joe Frank” Martinez (Incumbent), 1,579 votes.
- Constable Pct. 1: Dionicio “Nicho” Treviño III (Incumbent), 451 votes.
- Constable Pct. 2: Daniel Reyes Jr. (Incumbent), 259 votes.
- Constable Pct. 4: Gerardo “Jerry” Hernandez (Incumbent), 327 votes.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com.
