NEWS Staff Report
BROWNSVILLE, TX – Out of Cameron County’s 237,794 registered voters, 48,451 (20.38%) cast ballots in Tuesday’s primaries, compared to less than 5% in the last election, according to numbers from the Office of the Cameron County Elections Administrator, Remi Garza.
Cameron County, along with the rest of the Rio Grande Valley, which, in the 2024 Presidential Election, voted Red for the first time since Reconstruction, saw 34,349 unofficial primary ballots cast for the Democrats and another 14,102 ballots cast for the Republicans.
A total of 22,317 votes were tallied for the Democrats at the end of early voting on Friday, while 8,561 votes were tallied for the Republicans.
On the Democratic side, the Brownsville Public Library had the highest number of early voters with 7,025. The San Benito Community Building recorded 2,031, and the Rio Hondo Civic Center saw an additional 507 voters, with the Los Indios Community Center having 83 early votes.
The Brownsville Public Library had the highest number of early Republican voters, 1,871. The San Benito Community Building recorded 708 early votes for the Republicans, and the Rio Hondo Civic Center hosted another 260. The Los Indio Community Center added an additional 29.
“Our in-person turnout was quite extraordinary for a mid-term primary at 38,878 or 12% of the registered voters. We far exceeded the presidential primary of March 2008, where 24,445 voters cast ballots during early voting, and previous turnouts for both parties are at highs,” said Garza at the end of early voting.
Unofficially, in Cameron County, incumbent John Cornyn took the US Senate race with 6,292 votes compared to Ken Paxton’s 4,692. Statewide, there’s a high-profile runoff between the two in that race.
In the highly competitive US House race for District 34, Eric Flores defeated Mayra Flores (no relation) with 7,137 votes to 5,229 in an eight-candidate race.
Former San Benito School District Trustee Janie Lopez defeated Harlingen’s Kristin Luckey with 5,710 unofficial votes to 2,496. Mauro Garza went unopposed in his bid for County Judge. Another candidate with Resaca City links, Esteban “Steve” Rodriguez, also went unopposed in the Pct. 3, Pl 1 Justice of the Peace race.
On the Democrats’ side, Cameron County voters supported James Talarico, 20,336 to Jasmine Crockett’s 11,079 votes in a three-way race for US Senator.
Incumbent Vicente Gonzalez outlasted Etienne Rosas, 19,984 votes to 12,112 in the US District 34 Representative race, while Gina Hinojosa, who has Brownsville ties, received 23,176 votes in Cameron County alone in her bid for Texas Governor. She will face Abbott in the General Election.
Hidalgo County’s Thomas Ray Garcia ran unopposed in his bid for the District 2 seat on the State Board of Education, while Oziel “Ozzie” Ochoa Jr and Esmeralda “Esmi” Cantu-Castle will compete against each other in a runoff for District 37 State Representative.
San Benito’s Jesus T “Chuy” Garcia, Jr. finds himself in a runoff with the candidate who received the most votes in the 107th Judicial District Judge race, Noe Garza, who garnered 11,511 votes compared to Garcia’s 10,898. Meanwhile, incumbent Cameron County Judge Eddie Trevino, Jr. faces off with challenger Esteban “Steve” Guerra in a runoff.
Sylvia Garza defeated challenger Denise Garza for County Clerk, while Johnathan Gracia upset incumbent David A. Betancourt for County Treasurer.
Finally, San Benito attorney Noe Alaniz Jr. defeated former San Benito Commissioner Rene Villafranco with 55.40% of the vote for the Pct. 3, Pl. 1 Justice of the Peace seat vacated by Garcia.
Results are unofficial until canvassed.