Reprint from the Progress Times - April 27, 2007
©Progress Times 2007 - All Rights Reserved

Early Voting Begins Monday On Elections In Mission Area

Early voting on some heated city and school contests in the Saturday, May 12, elections gets underway this coming Monday, April 30.

The last day to cast an early vote will be Tuesday, May 8.

Particularly heated have been the campaigns in La Joya - where Team USA is battling forces of Mayor Billy Leo - and in Sullivan City where the town's first and only mayor is going for his fifth term.

Hidalgo County Elections Department has agreed to conduct both the La Joya and Sullivan City elections.

Requests for mail-in ballots began on March 13. All mail-in requests (applications) must be received by May 4 .

City of Mission early voting will be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on May 7 and 8.

Following are early polling places and line-ups for the various elections in Mission and the Mission area:

City Of Mission

Mission voters will have a choice between three-term Mayor Beto Salinas and Place 3 Councilman Dr. Armando O'cana Sr.

Salinas, who also has served as an Hidalgo County commissioner, has stressed in his campaign the progress Mission has enjoyed during his tenure as mayor.

O'cana, a math teacher, counselor and principal in the La Joya School District, is heading the "Mission Is Our Vision" ticket which also includes City Council Place 1 hopeful Ruben Sanchez, an air conditioning contractor, and David Vela, vice-president of Zapata International LTD, Oil Drilling Fluids Co.,

Opposing Sanchez is incumbent Celestino Ramirez, a retired school administrator and Vietnam War veteran, while Vela is facing former Mission Consolidated Independent School District Trustee Norie Gonzalez, owner of a real estate investment company in Mission.

Early voting will be at Mission City Hall.

Mission CISD Board

Early voters in the Mission Consolidated Independent School District's May 12 trustee election will have a choice of two polling sites - Veterans Memorial High School or Alton Elementary School.

MCISD early voting will be April 30 through May 4 and May 7 and 8, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Only two of the three trustee seats to be filled is contested. In Place 1, incumbent Raymond R. Longoria failed to draw an opponent, and apparently will win a new term.

Incumbent J.D. Villarreal, who will be seeking his third term as Place 2 trustee, is being opposed by Sonia Trevino.

Villarreal is a former school administrator and a former Mission Man of the Year, while his opponent is a Mission chiropractor.

Two newcomers are seeking the Place 3 seat formerly held by Norie Garza, who is running for Mission City Council this year.

They are Ramon M. Rodriguez, a former Mission teacher and counselor, and Moises "Moy" Iglesias, who spent more than 30 years serving in the U.S. Naval Reserve.

Sharyland ISD

Voters will have a choice between four candidates who are running at large for three seats on the Sharyland Independent School District Board of Trustees in the May 14 election.

Incumbent Guillermo Reyna, a Certified Public Accountant, is seeking a new term, but the other two incumbents, Dr. Henry Smith and Robbie Hymel, are not seeking re-election.

The voting will be at large, with the top three vote-getters earning seats on the board.

The other three candidates are La Sara Independent School District Superintendent Roland Pena, Jesus M. (Jesse) Guerra, a former trustee who is currently a human resources specialist with the La Joya ISD, and Dr. Noe Garza, a dentist.

The early vote will be at the Sharyland Fire Station.

La Joya ISD

A Team USA candidate will be trying to strengthen Team USA's control of the La Joya Independent School District Board of Trustees in the May 14 election.

Because of heated conflicts between some of the candidates and supporters, the Hidalgo County Election Department will be conducting the election.

Team USA candidate Esperanza (Espie) Ochoa, a long-time teacher and reading specialist, is running against Place Five incumbent Elma Garza, who has been a board member for the past 10 years.

Garza, a former board president, currently is a librarian at the La Grulla Middle School in the Rio Grande City Independent School District.

In the other school board contest, Place 4 incumbent Arturo Gonzalez, a trustee for seven years and also a former board president, is opposed by Domingo Villarreal, who served on the board from 1994 to 2000.

Villarreal currently is administrative assistant and coordinator for Hidalgo County Precinct 3.

The early vote will be at Our Lady, Queen of Angels Catholic Church.

City Of La Joya

The City of La Joya election, which also will be conducted by the Hidalgo County Elections Department, features a bid by Team USA to gain a majority on the board of aldermen.

Team USA, which scored a major victory in last year's La Joya School Board election, is hoping to unseat the incumbent mayor and two aldermen.

Billy Leo, seeking his fifth term as mayor, is opposed by Team USA's Rodolfo (Fito) Farias, a former mayor and retired educator.

Three aldermen will be elected, two of them from a field of four candidates - incumbent Angie Garza, a retired school secretary; Leroy Alaniz, a businessman, Eluterio (Tello) Morales, a retired school district employee, and Dalila Ruiz, a dispatcher for the school district.

Morales and Ruiz are the Team USA candidates.

A one-year alderman term will be decided in a race between Maria M. (Tillie) Salinas, a computer service technician, and Team USA's Mary Salinas, who is retired.

Also on the ballot will be a vote on extending terms of aldermen from two to four years.

Early voting will be at Our Lady, Queen of Angels Catholic Church Pavilion.

City Of Palmhurst

Early voting in the City of Palmhurst aldermen election will be at Faith Baptist Church.

Place 2 incumbent Jaime Aranda, a businessman, faces a challenge from Jackie Field, a retired businessman.

However, Place 1 incumbent Ruben De Leon, a parts manager for Weaks Martin, and Place 5 incumbent Rosario Enrique are unopposed.

Sullivan City

Like the election in La Joya, the Sullivan City vote will be conducted by the Hidalgo County Elections Department.

Mayor Gumaro Flores, who is seeking his fifth term, is opposed by Nidia Benavides, owner of a Sullivan City convenience store.

Four candidates have filed for the two aldermen seats. Voting on them will be at large rather than by place.

The candidates, all school district employees, are Reynaldo Ruiz, Ginger Villarreal, Rosendo (Cheno) Benavides and Oscar Salinas.

Early voting site will be Sullivan City Hall.

No Elections

Voters in Palmview and Granjeno will not be having city elections on May 12 since terms of none of their office-holders expire this year.