Recount upholds Smith’s victory

RAYMONDVILLE — George Solis’ call for a recount of the May 6 election tally ended up giving longtime City Commissioner Clifton Smith an extra vote.

It wasn’t what Solis had hoped for.

Yesterday, a two-vote margin kept Smith from having to face the former Willacy County justice of the peace in a runoff election.

After the two-hour hand-count at City Hall, Smith picked up an extra vote putting his official winning tally at 575.

Meanwhile, Solis, who paid $400 for the recount, held onto 327 votes while Joel Garcia kept his 246 votes.

In the three-man race for the commission’s Place 3 seat, unofficial results gave Smith 574 votes, or 50.09 percent of the total vote.

According to election law, candidates running against more than one opponent must win at least 50 percent of the vote to avoid runoff elections.

After the recount, Solis said he wanted voters to know “how important one vote is.”

“I followed the rules,” Solis said. “I’m good with it.”

Solis believed a runoff election would have given him a good chance to defeat Smith.

That’s because he believed Smith picked up votes from supporters of Place 4 incumbent Zeke Cavazos, who received 655 votes to defeat challenger Irene Moreno Cavazos, with 488 votes, in the May 6 election.

With Zeke Cavavos out of a potential runoff, Solis believed Smith would lose votes from Cavazos’ supporters.

Smith, a photographer and fishing guide, first won election to his commission seat in 1989.