HARLINGEN — Outside the polls Monday, candidates mingled with residents while their supporters waved signs against a backdrop of trailers showing off over-sized campaign posters as early voting opened for the May 1 election.
In Harlingen, a sturdy stream of residents cast ballots in the crowded election which could shift the balance of power on the city commission.
“It’s steady,” City Secretary Amanda Elizondo said at City Hall. “We have a steady line. It’s going good.”
Meanwhile, residents also cast ballots in the school board election in which two incumbents face challengers.
In San Benito, candidates for city commission and school board races rallied near the Community Building, where Cameron County officials were running the election.
“The San Benito early voting site is one of the most active early voting sites for this election so far,” said Remi Garza, the county’s elections administrator.
Harlingen city election
In Harlingen, three seats are up for grabs in one of the city’s hottest elections in years, with challengers vying to defeat two longtime incumbents.
In the race for the District 3 seat, incumbent Michael Mezmar, a financial analyst, faces former City Commissioner Robert Leftwich, a real estate broker.
Meanwhile, Commissioner Ruben de la Rosa’s decision not to seek re-election has sparked a four-man scramble in the race for his District 4 seat.
The ballot includes former City Commission Basilio “Chino” Sanchez, a retired newspaper production technician; Frank Morales, who is semi-retired after working as a salesman; Xavier Jaramillo, who works for Valley Wide Sprinkler Systems; and Anselmo Aparicio Jr., a counter salesman.
In February, De la Rosa said he wouldn’t seek re-election after deciding to move his family to a home in District 5.
In the race for the District 5 seat, incumbent Victor Leal, a businessman, faces Rene Perez, a school teacher.
San Benito city election
In San Benito’s city election, two seats are on the line — enough to shift the commission’s balance of power.
More than five months after losing his bid for a second term as the city’s top elected official to Mayor Rick Guerra, former Mayor Ben Gomez, a school district parent educator, is fighting for the commission’s Place 3 seat, squaring off with incumbent Pete Galvan and Jesus Ernesto Loperena, a territory manager.
In last November’s election, Galvan, a pharmacist, won the unexpired term which Guerra left open after he resigned to run for the city’s top elected position.
In the race for the Place 4 seat, incumbent Carol Lynn Sanchez, an attorney, faces Victor Rosas, a retired firefighter and former San Benito school district trustee who serves on the city’s housing authority.
Harlingen school board election
In Harlingen, challengers are vying for two seats on the school board.
In the race for the board’s Place 4 seat, incumbent Bobby Muñiz, a pharmacist, faces Adrian Garcia, a realtor.
Meanwhile, incumbent Dr. Belinda Reininger, regional dean of the University of Texas School of Public Health in Brownsville, faces Israel Aguilar, who serves on the faculty of the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley.
San Benito school board election
On the San Benito school board, eight candidates are running for three spots.
In the race for the board’s Place 1 seat, incumbent Anna Garza Llanes, a mortgage loan officer, faces Ariel Ann Cruz, a pharmacist.
In a three-way scramble for Place 2, incumbent Sonia Weaver, a retired teacher, squares off with former school board member Mario Silva, a sales representative, and Rosalinda Garcia, a realtor.
Meanwhile, incumbent Janie Silva is pitted against former school board member Oscar Medrano, a former hospital volunteer services coordinator, and Lupita Monsevalles, a retired district mentor teacher facilitator and longtime school principal.
Early voting runs through April 27.
