Early voting for the runoff election that will decide who will be the next McAllen city commissioner for District 4 concluded Tuesday with already a higher turnout than there was during the general election.
There were a total of 698 McAllen citizens who voted in person during the early voting period of the runoff election in which Pablo D. Garcia and Rodolfo “Rudy” Castillo are running for District 4 commissioner.
They were the top two vote-getters during the general election in January which had a total of 543 voters. That turnout amounted to approximately 5% of the 10,542 registered voters in the district.
However, neither candidate received enough votes to avoid a runoff.
Garcia received the most votes with 247, or about 45% of the votes, while Castillo received 225 votes, or about 41% of all votes, according to the election returns which the city council canvassed Jan. 27.
A third candidate, Javier Salazar, received 71 votes or about 13% of the vote share.
Castillo, a business owner, said security and drainage were his main priorities for District 4 as well as having more street lights and parks for the residents.
He also hoped to address speeding in the neighborhoods there to make it safer for children to play outside.
Garcia, board treasurer for the Camara de Comercio Internacional or the International Chamber of Commerce, said that he wanted to invest in parks and other recreational facilities for families in the district. He also wanted to invest in improvements to the drainage system.
The ongoing election is a special election to replace Commissioner Tania Ramirez who resigned to run for Hidalgo County judge, though she is continuing to serve on the city commission until her replacement is elected and sworn into office.
The uptick in voters could have been bolstered by the Democratic and Republican Primary elections, which also began their early voting periods Feb. 14 and will continue through Feb. 25. The primaries and the McAllen commissioner race share three polling locations.
But while turnout during the McAllen runoff has so far been higher than the general, the turnout at two of the three early voting polling locations remained paltry.
Only two people voted at the Lark Community Center throughout the entirety of the early voting period, while 12 people voted at Firemen’s Pump House, according to the city’s early voting rosters.
The rest, and majority, of the votes were cast at the Palm View Community Center.
As of Feb. 22, the city had received only two ballots by mail.
Election Day for the runoff is Saturday. Only the polling place at the Palm View Community Center, located at 3401 Jordan Avenue, will be open that day.
