McAllen sets date for special election to fill vacancy

McAllen commissioners unanimously approved an ordinance calling for a special election to be held Jan. 22 to fill Commissioner Tania Ramirez’s vacant District 4 seat.

Tania Ramirez

The move comes two weeks after Ramirez announced that she will be challenging current Hidalgo County Judge Richard F. Cortez for the Democratic nomination.

During Monday’s regular meeting of the McAllen city commission, Mayor Javier Villalobos expressed urgency in filling Ramirez’s seat.

“As you all know, our commissioner from District 4 announced that she will be running for county judge, and pursuant to the Texas Constitution, creates an automatic vacancy,” Villalobos said during Monday’s meeting. “The automatic vacancy requires that we fill the position within 120 days of the vacancy by special election.”

There were two items on Monday’s agenda with different dates; one for Jan. 22, 2022 and another for Feb. 5, 2022.

“We need to choose one, and my understanding is the sooner, the better,” Villalobos said.

Ramirez, who said she wants to “put Hidalgo County back on the right path,” said in a news release that she sees many similarities in the struggles people have faced in her district in South McAllen and throughout the county.

“It was a very tough decision for me, very tough, because it’s going to be really hard for me to leave the city of McAllen,” she said in the release, “but I think it’s for a better purpose and if I can take all that energy and passion that we’ve put in District 4 … and do it countywide, I think it’s going to do very well for the people of Hidalgo County.”

Ramirez will challenge Cortez in the Democratic primary election, which is scheduled for March 1, 2022. Cortez has served as county judge since his election in 2018.