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SAN BENITO — A steady flow of voters cast ballots as an eight-day early voting period drew to a close in some of San Benito’s hottest city commission and school board races, pumping up the city’s two rival factions to rally last-minute support as candidates zoom in on Saturday’s elections.
As the early voting period was coming to a close May 2, Harlingen voters were lining up to cast ballots in two school board races in which they’ll elect new members to the city’s board of trustees.
In San Benito’s city commission election, 1,322 residents had cast early votes by the time the polls closed at 8 p.m. May 1, according to the Cameron County Elections Department.
Meanwhile, school board races had drawn 1,712 residents to the polls by end of May 1’s voting period.
“There’s been a lot of activity at the early voting locations,” Remi Garza, the county’s elections administrator, said of San Benito’s contests.
Final early voting totals weren’t available late May 2.
Despite the steady lines of voters, the turnout couldn’t rival San Benito’s last big election, when three weeks of early voting spurred records in the city’s commission and school board races.
“The turnout is still lagging behind previous years,” Garza said.
City commission
On the city commission, seven candidates are running in the election, with three of five seats up for grabs.
The election could shift the balance of power on the board in which Commissioners Rene Villafranco, Rene Garcia and Carol Lynn Sanchez make up the majority.
In one of the city’s hottest races, Mayor Rick Guerra, a retired Harlingen firefighter running for a second term, faces Garcia, a Social Security Administration claims specialist, and former Mayor Ben Gomez, a school district parent specialist.
Garcia’s decision to vacate the commission seat he won in 2020 opened the door for Tom Goodman, a South Padre Island real estate broker, to challenge Eddie Abrego, San Benito High School’s assistant principal, in the race for the Place 1 seat.
In the battle for the Place 2 seat, Villafranco, a federal employee who first won election in 2009, faces Deborah Ann Morales, the vice president of Texas Funeral Associates who serves on the city’s Economic Development Corporation board.
San Benito school board
On the school board, four of seven seats are open in an election that could shift the panel’s balance of power.
In the race for the board’s Place 4 seat, board member Orlando Lopez, a vascular specialist with a medical company running for a third term, faces Julian Joseph Rios, the manager of Chuy’s Custom Sports who serves as the city’s EDC president.
In the contest for Place 5 seat, board member Rudy Corona, an AT&T fiber technician running for a second term, squares off against Jack Garcia, a former district official and former city mayor who works for the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley.
Running for the Place 6 seat, Ramiro Moreno, a Rio Hondo school district principal who’s served as the board’s president since winning election in 2020, faces Alex Reyna, a retired San Benito school district police officer.
In the race for the board’s Place 7 seat, board member Frutoso Gomez, a former longtime Cameron County chief appraiser whom the school board appointed to fulfill Janie Lopez’s term after she won the new state House of Representatives District 37 seat, faces Michael Vargas, the assistant public affairs director with the city of Pharr whom a group of residents removed as the school board’s president in 2019.
Harlingen school board
In Harlingen, 1,654 residents cast early ballots in the school board election by the time the polls closed at 8 p.m. May 1, according to the Cameron County Elections Department.
On Saturday, voters will be ushering in two new board members in the election in which two seats are up for grabs.
In the race for the school board’s Place 1 seat, Gina Cano-Monreal, an administrator, faces Lorraine De Leon-Galarza, a retired registered nurse.
In the contest to fill the Place 2 seat being vacated by Javier DeLeon, Ricky Leal, vice president of First Community Bank, squares off against Israel Aguilar, a university professor.
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