Special to El Rrun-Rrun
With Friday being the deadline to file for two seats on the Brownsville Navigation District and Texas Southmost College and for chairmanship of the Cameron County Democratic Party, no one was expecting any surprises.
But, this being Cameron County, there were.
At TSC, everyone thought that no one would run against Dr. Ruben Gallegos, who was finishing Ramon Champion Hinojosa's term on Place 7. Well, now we learn that Gallegos opted not to run for reelection and that two candidates, Eva Alejandro and Lead Internal Auditor for the Brownsville Independent School District Arvin Tucker Rios will vie for that empty seat.
Alejandro initiated the TSC Child Care and Development Program and then became tenured and taught at UTB before founding the Alternative-South Texas Educator Program 14 years ago. She is the sole owner of the firm.
And two candidates filed before the 6 p.m. Friday deadline for Place 6, the seat currently held by Dr. Reynaldo Garcia. They are Carlos Rios and J.J. De Leon. Rios is a first-time candidate for office and De Leon has been a clerical staffer at the BISD and has run unsuccessfully for the board before.
At the Port, as expected, BISD board president Cesar Lopez will challenge BND board chairman John Wood for Place 2. Lopez was head of the Mercedes ISD until he was tapped to fill the vacancy left when Christina Saavedra accepted an administrative position in San Antonio. He ran for reelection in 2014 and won.
Wood drew place one on the ballot for the May 5 election. He has been a City of Brownsville and Cameron County commissioner. He ran a narrow countywide race for Cameron County Judge against Carlos Cascos which was decided amidst intense controversy.
In Place 4, Javier Vera drew the first place on the ballot for the election followed by Steve Guerra and Patrick Anderson in third place. Vera is the CFO of the Cowen Group of custom brokerage and warehousing. The Cowens are related to Ralph Cowen, a commissioner at the port. Guerra is a businessman with international experience and has run for the BND once before. Anderson is a teacher at the Los Fresnos ISD and has been a strong environmental advocate opposed to bringing LNGs and what he considers other polluting industries.
Both the BND and TSC races are nonpartisan affairs. At the TSC race, there is the possibility of a runoff, unlike the port, where only a majority of the votes are needed to win.
On the other hand, it appears that Texas Democratic Party Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa will remain firmly in control of the Cameron County Party with the sole candidate who field being Jared Hockema, currently the city manager of Port Isabel.
Current chair Amber Medina did not say that she would not seek reelection until the end of the filing period. Hockema was an assistant to Hinojosa when the latter was county judge. He will not have an opponent.
With Friday being the deadline to file for two seats on the Brownsville Navigation District and Texas Southmost College and for chairmanship of the Cameron County Democratic Party, no one was expecting any surprises.
But, this being Cameron County, there were.
At TSC, everyone thought that no one would run against Dr. Ruben Gallegos, who was finishing Ramon Champion Hinojosa's term on Place 7. Well, now we learn that Gallegos opted not to run for reelection and that two candidates, Eva Alejandro and Lead Internal Auditor for the Brownsville Independent School District Arvin Tucker Rios will vie for that empty seat.
Alejandro initiated the TSC Child Care and Development Program and then became tenured and taught at UTB before founding the Alternative-South Texas Educator Program 14 years ago. She is the sole owner of the firm.
And two candidates filed before the 6 p.m. Friday deadline for Place 6, the seat currently held by Dr. Reynaldo Garcia. They are Carlos Rios and J.J. De Leon. Rios is a first-time candidate for office and De Leon has been a clerical staffer at the BISD and has run unsuccessfully for the board before.
At the Port, as expected, BISD board president Cesar Lopez will challenge BND board chairman John Wood for Place 2. Lopez was head of the Mercedes ISD until he was tapped to fill the vacancy left when Christina Saavedra accepted an administrative position in San Antonio. He ran for reelection in 2014 and won.
Wood drew place one on the ballot for the May 5 election. He has been a City of Brownsville and Cameron County commissioner. He ran a narrow countywide race for Cameron County Judge against Carlos Cascos which was decided amidst intense controversy.
In Place 4, Javier Vera drew the first place on the ballot for the election followed by Steve Guerra and Patrick Anderson in third place. Vera is the CFO of the Cowen Group of custom brokerage and warehousing. The Cowens are related to Ralph Cowen, a commissioner at the port. Guerra is a businessman with international experience and has run for the BND once before. Anderson is a teacher at the Los Fresnos ISD and has been a strong environmental advocate opposed to bringing LNGs and what he considers other polluting industries.
Both the BND and TSC races are nonpartisan affairs. At the TSC race, there is the possibility of a runoff, unlike the port, where only a majority of the votes are needed to win.
On the other hand, it appears that Texas Democratic Party Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa will remain firmly in control of the Cameron County Party with the sole candidate who field being Jared Hockema, currently the city manager of Port Isabel.
Current chair Amber Medina did not say that she would not seek reelection until the end of the filing period. Hockema was an assistant to Hinojosa when the latter was county judge. He will not have an opponent.