Election results: Multiple Brownsville races head into runoffs

No major course changes appear to be on the horizon for the Brownsville Navigation District if the results from the May 4 elections in Cameron County are any indication, at least when it comes to liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants.

Still, only one candidate in the BND races, incumbent Place 5 Commissioner Sergio Tito Lopez, surpassed the 50%-plus one vote necessary to avoid a runoff. His sole opponent in the race was Josette Cruz Hinojosa, who won 3,349 votes to Lopez’s 5,728.

Hinojosa was part of a bloc of three anti-LNG candidates vying for BND seats on a “Port for All” platform. The other two were Patrick Everitt, who came in last in a four-way race for Place 1 (longtime incumbent Commissioner Ralph Cowen opted not to seek reelection), and Andres Rios, who likewise finished fourth in a four-way race for Place 3.

Carlos L. Garcia, who received 28.27% of the vote, and Ernesto “Ernie” Gutierrez, who received 41.38%, are headed to a runoff for Place 1 on June 15. For Place 3, incumbent Commissioner John Reed and challenger Eduardo “Eddie” Campirano, former Port of Brownsville director and CEO, will also go to a runoff. Campirano received 31.05% of the vote to Reed’s 33.68%.

With construction on the massive Rio Grande LNG plant already under along S.H. 48 north of the Brownsville Ship Channel and a second, smaller LNG facility (Texas LNG) possibly on the way at the port, the BND commission seems likely to remain solidly pro-LNG no matter who prevails in the runoffs.

More runoffs are in store for candidates in two races for the Texas Southmost College Board of Trustees.

Edward C. Camarillo, who received 44.95% of the vote in the three-way race for Place 6, and J.J. De Leon, who garnered 32.31%, are destined for a rematch come June 15. Also, Norma Lopez Harris, with 43.47% of the vote, will again face Hilda Silva, who won 28.49% in the three-way race for Place 7.

LEFT: Marisa F. Leal on Nov. 18, 2020, in Brownsville. (Denise Cathey/The Brownsville Herald) RIGHT: Minerva M. Peña waves to motorists on election day Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, in Brownsville. (Miguel Roberts/The Brownsville Herald)

Avoiding a runoff was Marisa F. Leal, who came in with 56.35% of the vote against Minerva Pena, who garnered 43.65% in a special election for Brownsville Independent School District Board of Trustees Place 6.

Brownsville voters shot down a proposal to dissolve its two economic development corporations, Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation and Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation, each supported by a quarter-cent sales tax, and replace them with a new entity, the Greater Brownsville Municipal Development District.

The development district would have been supported by a half-cent sales tax and would have been able to collect tax revenue from Brownsville’s Extra-Territorial Jurisdiction outside the city limits as well as from within city limits. Proponents argued that it would have made more money available for economic development and quality-of-life projects over a wider area than the existing setup with GBIC and BCIC.

Voters defeated Proposition A, approval of which would have created the development district, but only contingent on the passage of Proposition B, which would have dissolved BCIC and GBIC — but only contingent on the passage of Proposition A. Brownsville voters sank the proposal by voting 59.75% to 40.25% to eliminate BCIC and GBIC, but 53.49% to 46.51% not to establish development district, meaning that GBIC and BCIC will remain.

The May 4 election saw 17,814 total ballots counted, according to unofficial results from the Cameron County Elections and Voter Registration Department.

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