Legality of candidacy questioned in Elsa City Council race

ELSA - The city of Elsa has received a formal request to remove a City Council candidate's name from the ballot for the May general election.

Filed Thursday in the 275th state District Court, the petition alleges Elsa resident Blanca Estella Cruz is a convicted felon, making her ineligible to hold public office.

She is running against Martin Venegas for the Place 1 seat on the council, which is comprised of four members plus the mayor. The council recently appointed Venegas to fill the seat vacated by Javier Guerrero, who is running for mayor on the same slate as Cruz.

Cruz, 55, was indicted in 2002 along with three others on six felony counts of voter fraud after she allegedly tampered with six mail-in ballots in the 2001 Edcouch-Elsa school district election. The three others pleaded guilty to the felony charges in March 2003. The charges against Cruz were later dropped.

The petition filed by Elsa resident Eric Villapando cites no specific felony conviction against Cruz, and Villapando could not be reached for comment Thursday.

However, he states in a sworn affidavit that he is "concerned of the financial waste if (Cruz) is a felon and she runs for office."

"I believe that if (Cruz) were to win, we would have to have another election and again at taxpayers (sic) expense," Villapando says in the document.

Cruz filed her application for a place on the ballot with the city March 5. She asserted Thursday she is not a felon.

"The only thing is when I was indicted for those letters, those election cards, but I was found innocent. My case was thrown out of court," she said.

A public records search revealed no felony convictions under Cruz's name.

City Attorney Javier Villalobos said he did not know whether Cruz is a felon, but she likely will be on the ballot regardless of her eligibility to hold office.

"I think we're going to have to put her on the ballot even if she's been convicted," Villalobos said. "We need to follow the election code.

"If somebody is disqualified after a certain date, they are still put on the ballot."

Villalobos said he likely would file a response to the petition by Monday.

Mayor Senovio Castillo said he had seen no proof Cruz is a convicted felon, "but if she is, well, she had no business filing for the position."
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Jared Taylor covers Edinburg, the Delta region and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4439.