One incumbent prevailed while another lost his bid for re-election as Weslaco voters took to the polls for the first time under a revised organizational structure for the Weslaco City Commission.
District 4 Commissioner Adrian Farias won his second term in office Tuesday night against opponent Eloy De Leon.
Meanwhile, incumbent Leo Muñoz — who previously served as the District 1 commissioner until the city switched to a hybrid system of both at-large and district seats — narrowly fell short to political newcomer, Israel Gonzalez Jr.
“It was a long two weeks,” Farias said Wednesday when asked how he felt now that the election is over.
“I’m excited to be part of the team again and to continue doing what we’ve been doing,” he added a moment later.
Farias defeated De Leon by 322 votes — earning just over 58% of the vote to De Leon’s 41.8%.
The incumbent earned 1,143 votes for the District 4 seat, while his challenger earned 821, according to the Hidalgo County Elections Department.
All results remain unofficial until canvassed by the Weslaco City Commission.
Meanwhile, Muñoz and Gonzalez were battling for ballots from across the city under Weslaco’s redrawn district maps.
Voters approved the restructuring of the Weslaco City Commission during the November 2020 election.
Prior to then, the commission was divided into six single-member districts, plus a mayor, who was elected as an at-large, citywide office.
Once Weslaco officials received updated population data from the 2020 Census, the city’s election maps were redrawn and subdivided into just four single-member districts.
The remaining two seats were also converted into at-large positions, like the mayor’s seat. Muñoz’s District 1 position was one of the seats that switched to at-large.
Muñoz, who was seeking his third term in office, lost to Gonzalez by less than 1.5 percentage points.
Some 3,971 Weslaco residents voted for Muñoz, while 4,072 people cast their ballots for newcomer, Gonzalez.
“This is my first time that I’ve kind of dabbled into the political world,” Gonzalez said via phone Wednesday.
“It was exciting! It was a great journey,” he added.
Gonzalez, 48, said he has long had a desire to serve in public office, but felt he couldn’t make the time commitment required prior to his retirement last October.
“I knew that, coming into this, is a commitment. It takes a lot of your time. … I kinda waited ‘til now (after) 30 years with H-E-B management and leadership,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez had already been bitten by the public service bug through his years of volunteering with youth sports, he said.
Now, he’s looking forward to working with his new colleagues on the city commission.
Both he and Farias said they have similar goals.
They both are eager to continue the city’s ongoing work on public infrastructure improvements — primarily, drainage and parks.
“There’s still a lot of work that needs to be done,” Gonzalez said.
Farias agreed.
He’s enthusiastic about the huge strides Weslaco has already taken in terms of investing in a new police and fire station, a large park and green space on the city’s northside, and pending plans to build a new library and municipal pool.
“We’re truly a city on the grow. I really mean that because businesses are coming to Weslaco. People are moving to Weslaco,” Farias said.
Muñoz did not return a request seeking comment Wednesday.
