The race for the District 4 McAllen city commissioner seat will be heading to a runoff after none of the three candidates were able to secure more than half of the votes in Saturday’s special election.
Pablo D. Garcia and Rodolfo “Rudy” Castillo will move on to a runoff election that will decide who will be the next city commissioner for McAllen’s District 4 after neither met the necessary 50% plus one vote to declare victory.
In the special election held Saturday, Garcia received the most votes with 247, or about 45%. Castillo followed with 41% of the ballots, which was 225 total votes, according to the city.
Javier Salazar came in third with a total of 71 votes or 13% of all votes.
All results are unofficial until certified by the city commission.
The special election for District 4 was called after current District 4 Commissioner Tania Ramirez announced she was resigning to run for county judge. However, she will remain on the commission as a holdover until someone is elected to replace her.
There are 10,542 registered voters in the district, according to the city, of which only 543 voted in the election — a 5% turnout.
Following the results, Castillo said he hoped there would be higher turnout but believes the cold weather played a role in deterring people from voting Saturday.
“I’m gratefully blessed and I thank the people that did come out to vote,” Castillo said.
Looking ahead to the runoff, he said he will try to get more people involved.
“You’ve just got to put your hand on your heart and be truthful to the people and show them that you really want to do something for your community,” he said. “But we will get more voters out.”
Neither Garcia or Salazar returned calls seeking comment.
The results are expected to be canvassed and certified by the city commission on Jan. 27. The date for the runoff election has yet to be set.
