SAN JUAN — Candidates in three San Juan city races will be heading to runoff elections after unofficial results Saturday show no one received more than 50% of the vote.
With 100% of precincts reporting, results show Mayor Mario Garza leading challengers Jesus “Jesse” Ramirez and Pete Garcia with a total of 1,152 votes. Ramirez received 782 votes, and Garcia received 646 votes.
Garza and Ramirez are now headed for a runoff election for the mayoral post.
R.C. Flores received more votes than Place 2 incumbent Ernesto “Neto” Guajardo and Laura Martinez with a total of 994 votes. Guajardo is trailing Flores by a margin of 26 votes. Guajardo currently has 968 votes, and Martinez has 617 votes.
The Place 3 commissioner race shows Nickie Ybarra in the lead with 992 votes over Adina “Dina” Santillan, who has 858 votes, and Eddie Alaniz, who has 712 votes.
Attempts to reach Ramirez late Saturday evening were unsuccessful as of press time.
Asked for comment, Mayor Garza said, “At the end of the day, obviously the numbers show that people came out and they were excited, and they’re not ready for change.”
The mayor added that he anticipates getting voters to show up to the polls for the runoff, citing numerous phone calls from voters throughout the community showing support for his campaign.
“They’re ready for the second round, and they’re willing to support us again and get the vote out,” Garza said. “History shows that the numbers will not be the same this first round to the runoff election. At this point, we’ve just got to reach out to all our supporters and friends and family to get the vote out here in the upcoming runoff election.”
R.C. Flores and Nickie Ybarra said that they would be releasing a joint statement when reached for comment. The statement was not issued as of press time.
