By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Val Verde County Democrats who voted in Tuesday’s Democratic Party Primary Election selected a slate of nominees for local offices, but also cast ballots in state and federal races.
A total of 3,295 Val Verde County voters cast ballots in the Democratic Party Primary Election.
In the contest for U.S. senator, Val Verde County Democrats picked James Talarico, giving him 1,693 votes. The second-place finisher, Jasmine Crockett, received 1,134 votes from local Democrats, and the third-place candidate, Ahmad H. Hassan, received 101 votes.
Democrats across the state selected Talarico as the Democratic Party nominee for U.S. Senate. Talarico will face the winner of the Republican Party runoff between incumbent U.S. Sen. John Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
In the race for the U.S. representative seat for District 23, Val Verde County Democrats favored Santos Limon, a graduate of Del Rio High School, who received 1,452 votes. Katy Padilla Stout finished second among Val Verde County Democratic voters with 903 votes. Bruce Richardson received 305 votes locally, and Gretel Enck received 116 votes.
Val Verde County Democrats supported Gina Hinojosa in her bid to become the next governor of Texas, giving her 1,646 votes. Hinojosa won the Democratic nomination and will face incumbent Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, the Republican Party nominee, in November.
Val Verde County Democrats also cast ballots for other candidates seeking the Democratic Party nomination for Texas governor. Those candidates and their vote totals were: Jose Navarro Balbuena, 263; Patricia Abrego, 261; Angela “TiaAngie” Villescaz, 192; Bobby Cole, 171; Zach Vance, 75; Chris Bell, 74; Andrew White, 62; and Carlton W. Hart, 54.
Val Verde County Democrats selected Marcus Isaias Velez as their choice for the office of Texas lieutenant governor, giving him 1,654 votes. Local Democrats also gave Vikki Goodwin 510 votes and Courtney Head 486 votes.
In selecting a nominee for Texas attorney general, Val Verde County Democrats chose Anthony “Tony” Box, who received 1,031 votes locally. Nathan Johnson received 987 votes from Val Verde Democrats, and Joe Jaworski received 564 votes.
Texas Sen. Roland Gutierrez of San Antonio was unopposed in his bid for the Democratic Party nomination for state senator for District 19. Val Verde County Democrats supported Gutierrez with 2,508 votes as he seeks re-election to the office.
In November, Gutierrez will face the winner of the Republican Party runoff in that race.
There was a similar situation in the Democratic Party primary for Texas representative for District 74.
Texas Rep. Eddie Morales Jr. of Eagle Pass was unopposed in his bid for the Democratic Party nomination as he seeks re-election to the office. Morales received 2,534 votes from Val Verde County.
Morales will face the winner of an extremely tight race for the District 74 nomination among Republicans. One of the Republicans in that race, Del Rio attorney Robert Garza, told The 830 Times Tuesday night he believed he had won the contest.
If that is the case, the November general election will be a rematch between Morales and Garza, who were the nominees for their respective parties in the 2020 general election.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com
