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Edinburg Mayor Ramiro Garza Jr. has already amassed a six-figure war chest just weeks after declaring his intention to seek reelection as the All-America City’s top elected official.
Recently filed campaign finance reports show that Garza has accumulated more than $100,000 in political contributions toward his reelection campaign thus far. Meanwhile, the mid-year reports also shed light on how other candidates — both past and present — have been spending their campaign funds.
State law mandates that candidates submit campaign finance reports semiannually in January and July during non-election years. As an election draws nearer, candidates must also submit reports 30 days and eight days before election day.
According to Garza’s July mid-year report, which he filed on July 15, the mayor raised $103,200 in political contributions between Jan. 1 and June 30 of this year.
Garza’s total war chest comes out to nearly $182,000 once campaign contributions from previous filing periods are tallied in.
The majority of the more recent contributions, however, came within days of a campaign kickoff the mayor held at Trevino’s Restaurant late last month.
Some 55 people, companies or political action committees have contributed to the mayor’s reelection campaign with donations ranging from $50 to $5,000.
The bulk of those donations came in the week leading up to Garza’s June 26 campaign kickoff dinner.
His largest donations — each for $5,000 — came from Victor Daniec, David O. Rogers Jr., Joaquin M. Spamer and Tillmin G. Welch, the report shows.
Other notable donors include construction magnate Alonzo Cantu, who contributed $3,500 on June 20, as well as a bevy of local physicians, including a $2,000 contribution by Dr. Victor Haddad, father of District 5 McAllen Commissioner Victor “Seby” Haddad.
Several professionals in the building and property development industry have also made contributions, including:
>> Nicholas Rhodes, president and CEO of Rhodes Enterprises, who donated $1,000,
>> CJE Construction, who donated $2,500,
>> Trade organization South TX Builders Alliance, who donated $1,500,
>> Los Lagos Development LLC, who donated $2,500
>> and Enrique “Henry” Flores, of Madhouse Development Inc., who donated $500, among others.
Meanwhile, the mid-year campaign finance reports show that embattled Place 4 Councilman David White has been dipping into his campaign coffers to pay legal bills that have mounted since his opponent, Gerardo “Gerry” Lozano challenged White’s election victory.
White won his November 2023 reelection bid by just 10 votes. But a month afterward, Lozano challenged the results, alleging that White’s campaign workers and volunteers had illegally assisted voters at the polls.
In May of this year, a judge struck down the election result and declared Lozano the true winner. But White has retained his seat on the council dais while he appeals the judge’s decision.
Between Jan. 16 and July 15, White has raised $28,500 in political contributions, his mid-year report shows.
Over the same period of time, he has spent $14,842.07. Of that, just over $14,100 went to paying his attorneys at Oxford & Gonzalez for their “legal services,” the report shows.
Like Garza, White has also received a number of contributions from notable donors, including construction industry and legal professionals.
Former Edinburg councilman and one-time mayoral candidate Gilbert Enriquez contributed $1,500 to White in late-February, while state Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, contributed $1,000 just days later.
White’s largest political contribution came from Rene Garza on Feb. 22. Garza contributed $5,000.
However, it remains unclear precisely how White’s opponent has been using his campaign contributions, or how much he may have raised during the first half of the year.
That’s because Gerry Lozano failed to submit a mid-year campaign finance report by July 15, City Secretary Clarice Balderas confirmed this week.
On June 7, Lozano did, however, file an amendment to his January mid-year report which reflects expenditures through June 5 of this year.
According to that report, Lozano has spent nearly $166,000, including more than $48,700 on the legal services of Gilberto Hinojosa and Carlos Escobar, the two attorneys who took his election contest to trial.
Lozano has paid thousands more for “consulting services” to a man named Jorge Velasco.
Meanwhile, another of Edinburg’s politicians continues to file the state-mandated reports even though he has been out of the public eye for at least two years, and out of office for even longer than that.
Former Mayor Richard Molina, who in November 2021 lost his reelection bid to Garza, has consistently continued to file campaign finance reports every January and July since that election loss.
The former mayor has largely shunned the limelight since August 2022, when a jury acquitted him of a dozen counts of voter fraud and illegal voting stemming from his November 2017 election win.
Molina’s July report shows that he raised no funds during the first half of 2024, but continues to maintain a nearly $61,000 balance from contributions made in previous filing periods.
Prior campaign finance reports show that Molina, like White, dipped into his campaign coffers to pay for his legal defense at trial.
