Incumbents keep seats in Edinburg school board

EDINBURG — Incumbents fended off all challengers after a contentious race for two seats on the Edinburg school board.

Carmen Gonzalez retained her Place 6 seat despite allegations from challenger and former board president Gilbert Enriquez that the incumbent had used her vote to funnel district money to a textbook company that employs her.

Gonzalez won comfortably, taking nearly 60 percent of the vote.

Ciro Treviño solidly retained the Place 7 seat, overcoming challengers Carlos Ramos and Roger C. Bunch by taking 55 percent of the vote.

"Enriquez will do what we wants to do to me," Gonzalez said. "I'm a proven, honest educator. He couldn't do enough to hurt me when you're honest like I am."

The race for the Place 6 seat grew heated in recent weeks as Enriquez ran newspaper ads alleging Gonzalez had voted multiple times to buy textbooks from her company. Gonzalez countered by running ads calling Enriquez a thief after he was arrested on theft charges in May in connection with a bad check.

Treviño, a veteran of Edinburg politics, said he was confident the school board would emerge from the races relatively unscathed by the political drama.

"People in the district have spoken and I guess they appreciate what we've been doing," he said. "I expect to do a lot of things this coming term."

Enriquez did not return phone calls seeking comment late Tuesday night.

At a polling station near downtown Edinburg on Tuesday evening, Gonzalez supporters and a camp loyal to Enriquez and Ramos faced each other across the street as they sought last-minute support.

The faceoff, unlike the race itself, was relatively civil, with supporters of both sides saying it was important to set a good example for the school children in the district.

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Sean Gaffney covers business, the economy and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4434.