Mixed results in Donna, Progreso elections; runoff in Weslaco

3 hours ago 15

It took court orders for two Mid-Valley municipalities to hold elections this year, and the results were a tossup between incumbents and newcomers.

Meanwhile, in Weslaco, a longtime incumbent cruised to an easy victory while an open seat that drew four candidates is headed to a December runoff.

DONNA

In August, just days before the statutory deadline to do so, the 13th Court of Appeals ordered the city of Donna to order a November election for the Place 2 and 4 seats on the city council.

The decision came down after a split council voted to not put the seats on the ballot due to what then-City Attorney Robert Salinas said was a flawed legal interpretation of when a charter amendment to lengthen terms of office was set to go into effect.

Donna residents approved that amendment, Proposition A, in November 2021, during the same election cycle that Place 2 Councilman Joey Garza and Place 4 Councilman Oscar Gonzales were elected.

Salinas opined that the longer terms of office — from three years to four — did not apply to Garza and Gonzales, but they, along with Councilmen Ernesto Lugo and Jesse “Coach” Jackson, disagreed.

Ultimately, however, the appellate court forced the city’s hand after Manuel “Manny” Moreno, brother to Donna Mayor David Moreno, filed a complaint.

And now, the Moreno brothers will soon sit on the council dais together.

That’s because Manny Moreno won his bid to unseat Gonzales for Place 4.

Manny Moreno won 3,048 votes from Donna residents, compared to Gonzales’ 2,305.

Meanwhile, Garza, the Place 2 incumbent, narrowly staved off a challenge by two-time candidate Art Mendoza.

Garza hung on with 51.18% of the electorate, or 2,778 votes, to Mendoza’s 48.19%, or 2,584.

The election results effectively split the candidates’ slates in half, with Donna residents choosing one candidate from each slate.

Campaign finance reports show that the incumbents, Garza and Gonzales, funded their own campaigns with the help of the “Donna 1st PAC,” for a total of $8,400 in cash and in-kind contributions.

Additionally, Gonzales loaned his own campaign $5,000, while an unnamed donor from La Joya contributed $1,500 to Garza’s campaign.

Outside money factored into their challengers’ warchests, as well.

Mendoza’s campaign finance report shows a single $500 contribution from a McAllen resident, and lists a disclaimer stating that any additional contributions and expenditures are included as part of his running mate Manny Moreno’s disclosures.

Manny Moreno’s 30-day campaign finance report shows he raised $6,000 for his campaign via three donors from outside of Donna — $2,500 each from C&C Waste Management and CB Consultants in Edinburg, and $1,000 from a McAllen resident.

None of the four Donna candidates submitted their 8-day campaign finance reports.

The fallout from the fracturing of the city council has left Donna mired in litigation.

PROGRESO

Southeast of Donna, the city of Progreso was also under court orders to hold a special election for three seats on the council there after Progreso Mayor Hugo Gamboa discovered irregularities in the town’s election cycle history.

It was Gamboa’s litigation that ultimately spurred the special election to be held, and now its his candidates who will soon serve with him on the dais.

At Place 1, Raul Flores Jr. earned 838 votes from Progreso voters, or just under 60% of the electorate, easily defeating challenger Gio Valdez.

Meanwhile, two other candidates supported by the mayor for the Place 3 and 5 races enjoyed thinner margins of victory.

At Place 3, Eric Rangel won 798 votes, or 56.64% of the vote, to Fernando “Fernie” Rangel’s 611.

And at Place 5, Stephanie Alegria won 798 votes, or 55.61% of the vote, to Eleazar Perez Jr.’s 629.

WESLACO

Over in Weslaco, the at-large commission seat left vacant when longtime Commissioner Greg Kerr chose not to seek reelection is headed to a December runoff.

Kerr has served on the Weslaco City Commission since 2014.

None of the four candidates for the at-large seat earned the 50%-plus-1 votes needed to win the election outright, meaning the top two vote getters will face each other again next month.

Pete Garcia Jr. won the most number of votes with 4,236, or 38.5% of the Weslaco electorate.

Dominic A. Reyna trailed behind Garza by about 9 percentage points. Reyna won 3,233 votes, or 29.39%.

Johnny Joe Salinas Jr. won 2,403 votes, while a fourth candidate, Thomas Gregory, won 1,130.

All told, some 11,002 Weslaco residents cast a ballot in the race for the at-large commission seat, which was more than 300% higher turnout than the other race on the Weslaco ballot.

Jose P. “J.P.” Rodriguez was first elected to office in 2014, at the same time as Greg Kerr. The pair campaigned on similar anti-corruption platforms after “The City of the Grow” had been besmirched by a $40 million bribery and kickback scheme carried out by elected and other public officials.

Rodriguez, a longtime law enforcement officer, cruised to a nearly 3-to-1 victory Tuesday night.

Rodriguez won 2,539 votes, or 71.99% of the electorate, compared to the 988 votes won by challenger Randy Hall in a race that drew just 3,527 total voters.