Valley voters to decide a multitude of elections Saturday

Election Day is slated for this Saturday.

Polls in Hidalgo County and Cameron County will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. for Election Day.

Voters in Hidalgo County will have 26 polling locations to cast their ballots on Saturday, while Cameron County voters will have 54 locations.

Polls closed to early voting Tuesday evening for the May 3 General Election.

A total of 8,175 ballots were cast in Hidalgo County during early voting. In the seven days that polls were open, 8,031 in-person ballots and 144 mail-in ballots were cast.

In Cameron County, a total of 21,816 ballots were cast during early voting.

HIDALGO COUNTY

The city of McAllen will be deciding on two races for the District 1 and District 2 seats on the city commission.

District 1 City Commissioner is seeking to retain his seat after first being elected to the commission in 2021. He is being challenged by Timothy “Tim” Wilkins, who unsuccessfully campaigned for the District 1 seat in the 2018 special election and again in 2021.

The District 3 city commission race has incumbent Omar Quintanilla, who was voted onto the commission in May 2017, facing off against Rolando “Rolly” Rios.

Mayor Javier Villalobos and District 2 Commissioner Joaquin “J.J.” Zamora were also up for reelection in their respective seats, but their races were cancelled after no challengers filed to run against them.

The lack of challengers also resulted in the cancellation of elections for the cities of Pharr, Peñitas and Alton.

Hidalgo County voters will still be deciding elections for the city of San Juan, Sullivan City, a special election in Progreso, as well as elections for the McAllen and Progreso school districts, and propositions for Hidalgo ISD.

Sullivan City’s municipal election will have three races on the ballot. Voters will decide races for mayor, Place 1 council member and Place 3 council member.

Mayor Alma D. Salinas is seeking reelection. She is being challenged by Eduardo “Lalo” Peña and Sylvia Castillo.

Place 1 Councilmember Ramon Moreno, who is also mayor pro-tem, is not seeking reelection. Vying for his seat are Isaac Villalon Sulemana, Magdalena “Maggie” M. Flores and Elias Morales, Jr.

The race for Place 3 council member has incumbent Rene “Cuate” Peña facing off against Jaime Villarreal and Javier “Jain” Flores.

The city of San Juan has three races including that of mayor, Place 2 commissioner and Place 3 commissioner. Mayor Mario Garza seeks to retain his seat, but he is being challenged by Place 2 Commissioner Ernesto “Neto” Guajardo.

With Guajardo’s Place 2 seat up for grabs, the race will be between Marta Soliz Santa Maria and Mario Cantu. The Place 3 race sees incumbent Commissioner Adina “Dina” Sanitillan seeking reelection. She is being challenged by Gilbert Garza and Jaime Castillo.

The McAllen school board will have two races to decide. Allena Cano and Robert Carreon are vying for the Place 3 seat after longtime board member Debbie Crane Aliseda decided not to seek reelection

The Place 7 race will include Rojelio Aleman II, Roberto Haddad and Tiffany Ramos. The seat was previously held by Lucia Thompson, who was appointed in June 2024 to replace Sam Saldivar Jr. following his resignation.

A vote here sign is seen at the San Benito Community Center building on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in San Benito. (Miguel Roberts/The Brownsville Herald)

CAMERON COUNTY

Voters in Cameron County have 13 races to decide on Election Day.

Races and propositions will be decided in municipal elections for Brownsville, Port Isabel, Primera, Rio Hondo and Santa Rosa; as well as the Cameron County Venue Project Special Election and the Starbase incorporation election.

There are also school district races on the ballot for the Harlingen and Rio Hondo school districts, and special elections for La Feria ISD and the Laguna Madre Water District.

The Brownsville election will include races for commissioner for District 3, commissioner for District 4 and commissioner At-Large “B.”

District 3 incumbent Roy De los Santos, who was elected to the commission in a runoff in June 2021, is looking to earn the Commissioner At-Large “B” seat after Commissioner Rose M.Z. Gowen, who was first elected to the seat in 2009, opted not to seek reelection.

De Los Santos will be running against Alejandro Garcia, Nurith Galonsky Pizana and Jason Moody.

With the District 3 seat up for grabs, Yvonne Barraza, Denise Granado Chavez and Gustavo Manuel Deleon are vying for the open seat.

The District 4 race will include incumbent Pedro Cardenas, who was elected to the commission in June 2021. He will be challenged by Michael Rodriguez, Louis E. Tijerina and Daisy Zamora.

Port Isabel voters will be voting on races for two seats on the city commission. Commissioner Sandra Holland is looking to keep her Place 1 seat on the commission. She is being challenged by James A. Galloway.

The Place 2 seat is up for grabs in a race between Armando “Dito” Rivera, Jr. and Michelle Barreiro.

There are two races on the ballot for Harlingen CISD.

There are four candidates on the ballot for the Place 3 seat after board President Greg Powers elected not to run for a sixth term. The race will feature Rebekah “Bekah” Batot, Diana Cortez Young, Laura Longoria and Linda R. Gonzales.

Eladio Jaimez, a Texas State Technical College provost, is seeking to retain his Place 7 seat. He will be facing Lorraine DeLeon-Galarza, a retired registered nurse, who previously ran for the Place 1 seat in 2023.

A complete list of races and sample ballots may be found at the Cameron County Elections website.

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