Jesus ‘Chuy’ Garcia wins San Benito justice of peace race

SAN BENITO — A native son will continue to serve as justice of the peace after a huge victory in Tuesday’s Democratic Primary elections.

Jesus “Chuy” Garcia Jr. has no Republican challenger, so the incumbent Precinct 3, Place 1 judge will be sworn in for his first full term. Garcia garnered 53 percent of the vote, far ahead of two challengers.

His vote total was 1,606, while Nadine Plata Gonzalez received 801 votes and Ronaldo “Ronnie” Garcia received 617 votes.

“It was a very grueling, very draining campaign. We just put everything we had on the table, bottom line,” Garcia said “In addition to being the most qualified and most experienced, I think the work we put into this campaign showed itself in this result.”

Garcia was appointed to the post last March to fill the unexpired term of Justice of the Peace Guadalupe Ayala, who died of cancer the month before.

Garcia is a native of San Benito. According to his website, he was a criminal defense attorney who has worked with the Cameron County District Attorney’s Office and nearly all of the County Courts at Law.