McALLEN — Attorney and current City Commissioner Javier Villalobos was elected the next mayor of McAllen in Saturday’s runoff elections.
Villalobos received 51.11% of the vote, or a total of 4,744 votes, defeating Veronica Vela Whitacre who received 48.89%, or 4,538 total votes.
“We’re very excited,” Villalobos said as the bass of Tejano music blasted behind his law office where his supporters celebrated and clamored to take photos with the mayor-elect. “It was very tense, it was a very tight race so I congratulate my opponent.”
“We’re willing to hit the ground running and working; we have the experience, the knowledge,” he added. “McAllen is pretty good but we’re going to make it even better.”
Gov. Greg Abbott issued a congratulatory statement to Villalobos after learning of the runoff results Saturday.
“Javier is a proven leader who cares deeply about the McAllen community,” Abbott wrote. “I congratulate him on his election as Mayor of McAllen and look forward to working alongside him to ensure an even more prosperous future for the people of the Rio Grande Valley.”
Though Whitacre fell short in the runoff election, she and her supporters nonetheless also celebrated after the results.
Whitacre was jovial and supporters danced and took photos as mariachis played throughout the evening.
“The people spoke and I understand that and I accept it,” Whitacre said of her loss. “I gave it my all, I am not ashamed of anything that I did. I worked hard.”
“I enjoyed representing McAllen for the last eight years and I hope that they accept me on a board or somewhere else, because my passion is in my city,” she said. “I hope to stay involved in my city, I hope to continue to give.”
Whitacre reiterated that she had no regrets.
“I opened up the doors for many women in our city of McAllen, I opened up the doors for everybody who had a doubt,” she said. “The doubt was that you can’t do it, but you can do it.”
In the May general election, in which Whitacre and Villalobos emerged as the top two vote-getters, Villalobos led in votes then, as well, out of the five candidates running at the time. He received 2,610 votes to Whitacre’s 2,381, according to the final certification of the results.
Both Whitacre, currently the city commissioner for District 6, and Villalobos, city commissioner for District 1, campaigned as the most qualified to serve as mayor based on their experience.
Whitacre touted her more than 30 years of public service which included working with nonprofit groups and serving on the city commission for eight years.
Villalobos, who was elected to the city commission in 2018, pitched his 23 years of experience as an attorney representing municipalities, schools, economic development corporations, and housing authorities as the most valuable to leading a city.
When Villalobos was elected District 1 commissioner in 2018, it was to finish out the term for former City Commissioner Richard F. Cortez, who resigned from the position to successfully run for county judge. That term expired this year and the election to decide who will be the next District 1 commissioner also went into a runoff.
Replacing Villalobos as city commissioner for District 1 is Tony Aguirre Jr., a business owner and former member of the McAllen Public Utility Board.
Aguirre received 1,625 votes to defeat Lucia “Lucy” Thompson, an attorney and mediator, who received 1,184.
In the race for city commissioner District 3, voters reelected Commissioner Omar Quintanilla with 655 votes. He defeated Thelma Tamez, an entrepreneur and president of La Encantada Diversity, Equality, & Inclusion, who received 397 votes.
Voters in District 6 elected Pepe Cabeza de Vaca, assistant chief of staff for Hidalgo County Precinct 1 Commissioner David Fuentes, over Larry Esparza, a former board trustee for the McAllen Independent School District, as their next city commissioner, replacing Whitacre.
Cabeza de Vaca received 1,013 votes to Esparza’s 804.
Editor’s note: This story was updated with the full version at 9:49 p.m.
