McALLEN — With a month remaining in the March 3 District 1 runoff election, businessman Timothy Wilkins spent $11,450 compared to attorney Javier Villalobos’ $1,584, according to 30-day campaign finance report filings.
The runoff became necessary since neither Villalobos nor Wilkins received more than 50 percent of the District 1 votes in the three-person Jan. 20 election.
In the Jan. 20 election, Villalobos earned 505 votes (37 percent) compared to Wilkins’ 472 votes (35 percent). Joseph M. Caporusso, the other candidate in the race, received 28 percent of the vote.
Early voting for the March 3 runoff will run from Feb. 14-27.
The last contested District 1 race was also a special election that went to a runoff, following the death of former Commissioner Scott Crane. That special election was held April 4, 2015, and the runoff was a month later on May 9, when 2,414 ballots were cast.
On Jan. 20, 1,358 of the 13,788 registered voters in District 1 cast ballots — roughly 10 percent.
Whoever wins the March 3 runoff will fill the rest of incumbent Richard Cortez’s term, which ends in May 2021. Cortez’s District 1 seat has been up for grabs since he announced his bid for Hidalgo County judge.
