No surprises for Valley voters

EDINBURG -- On a night when Americans focused their attention on whether the nation would skew blue or red, there weren't any surprises in Hidalgo County.

Hidalgo County residents overwhelmingly supported Democrats in every race on their ballots in which the party ran a candidate.

In one of the most closely followed local contests, Mercedes Municipal Judge Jesse Contreras, a Democrat, defeated Republican incumbent Daniel Rios in the fight for the newly created 449th state District Court.

Ultimately, voters saw past Contreras' stumbles in recent weeks - including a DWI arrest and a lawsuit over a $100,000 loan - and overwhelmingly elected the Democrat.

Contreras, 41, said his story of growing up in a single-parent household on the poor outskirts of Mercedes resonated with Valley voters.

"I'm exhausted, but I'm happy the people of this community trust me," he said.

More than 42,000 voters cast ballots Tuesday. This year's Election Day turnout was markedly lower than that of the 2004 general election, when 55,634 voters cast ballots.

That's due in large part to high turnout during this year's two-week period of early voting. Hidalgo County set a record this year for early voting, with at least 87,366 mail-in and in-person votes cast during the early period, based on unofficial numbers.

In total, at least 130,000 people cast votes in this year's general election, compared to 116,439 four years ago.

Even with the high turnout, voting ran smoothly through much of the county, said Hidalgo County Elections Administrator Yvonne Ramón.

But in Progreso - the site of a hotly contested race between two opposing slates of candidates for city office - some voters complained they were turned away at the polls by workers allied with incumbent Mayor Omar Vela.

"That's our right," said Jose Flores, 20, who arrived at the city's lone voting location with photo identification and birth certificate in hand. "That's our right to vote they're taking away."

Officials at that sole precinct suggested that all of the 20 to 25 people turned away Tuesday were from neighboring Progreso Lakes and Weslaco and had been imported to sway the elections.

As the complaints on both sides piled up, Ramón asked monitors from the Texas secretary of state's office to keep an eye on the votes.

She said allegations include claims that non-citizens as well as people from outside the city attempted to cast ballots in the races. State troopers flanked the Progreso Community Center to keep the peace. All incumbents, including Vela, won their races in Progreso.

Meanwhile, Democrat Veronica Gonzales easily secured a third two-year term representing Texas House District 41, defeating her Republican opponent, Javier Villalobos.

The race marked the first time a Democrat has faced a Republican challenger for the District 41 seat since the district was redrawn in the GOP's favor in 2001.

"I'm just really proud that my constituents are approving of the work that I'm doing, and I want to continue to win their trust," Gonzales said Tuesday night.

The Valley's Democratic congressional delegation - Rubén Hinojosa, Henry Cuellar and Solomon Ortiz - all easily won re-election.

State Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, a Democrat, did not face a Republican opponent in his race. He defeated Libertarian candidate Billy "Bill" Parker for the District 20 seat.

Democrat Linda Reyna Yañez, a native of Rio Hondo seeking a spot on the Texas Supreme Court, had taken more than 73 percent of the Hidalgo County vote as of 10:30 p.m.

But Yañez was unable to defeat Republican incumbent Phil Johnson, who as of 10:30 p.m. seemed poised to win the statewide race. Yañez was trying to become the first Latina to serve on the state bench.

McAllen resident Dori Contreras Garza, however, did win re-election to the state's 13th Court of Appeals bench.

Justices on the 13th Court hear appeals from trial courts in a 20-county area stretching up the Gulf Coast from Hidalgo County to just south of Houston.

She will now serve a second six-year term.

Democratic incumbent Mary Helen Berlanga, a Corpus Christi-lawyer, won re-election to the District 2 seat on the State Board of Education, defeating Republican challenger Peter H. Johnson from Wharton County.

The 15-member board sets the policies that govern educational programs and services offered by the state's public schools, including curriculum. District 2 encompasses parts of Hidalgo County as well as Cameron, Willacy and other counties along the Gulf Coast. Berlanga, first elected in 1982, is the board's longest-serving member.

And voters in the Mission, Progreso, Edcouch-Elsa and Hidalgo school districts all denied measures to provide more funding for their school systems.

The Mission, Edcouch-Elsa and Hidalgo districts each voted against raising their respective property tax rates to keep up with the cost of running their schools.

Progreso voters overwhelmingly denied a $7 million bond to fund classroom additions on new elementary schools.

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Monitor staff writers Sean Gaffney, Jeremy Roebuck and Jared Taylor contributed to this report.

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Ryan Holeywell covers McAllen, PSJA, the Mid-Valley and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4446.