MERCEDES — Early voting kicked off on Tuesday in the runoffs for the Place 1 and 3 Mercedes City Commission races.
Ending June 6, early voting is scheduled from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and again from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Monday. The substation, which is located at the Mercedes Civic Center on 530 E. 2nd St., will be closed Sunday.
As on the first day of early voting, ballots can be cast from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 6. This will also be the schedule for the day of the runoffs, which is slated for Saturday, June 10.
Challengers Leonel Benavidez and Leo Villarreal are vying for Place 1 commissioner, a post which will soon be vacated due to incumbent Jose M. Gomez’s unsuccessful bid for mayor.
The two were part of a five-person race during the May 6 election that ended with Villarreal taking 41 percent of the vote, with 657 ballots cast in his favor to Benavidez’s second-most of 315.
Mercedes’ city elections are won by majority, which requires the winner to obtain 50 percent of the vote plus one.
The Place 3 race is between incumbent City Commissioner Armando Lopez and challenger Cristella “Cris” De Leon Hernandez. Lopez had received 725 votes (46 percent) to Hernandez’s 592 during the May 6 race, which was comprised of three candidates at the time.
