By Juan Montoya
By far one of the most interesting races that might be decided in today's Democratic Party election is the three-way race between incumbent Cameron County Sheriff Omar Lucio, former county district clerk Eric Garza and ex-San Benito Police Department chief Michael Galvan.
Before Galvan threw his badge in the race, everyone thought it would be a cakewalk for Lucio to continue his reign at his office at Carrizales. But not so.
Garza came in guns blazing and questioned Lucio's ability to run the office. His supporters also raised criticism of Lucio that he was behind the times, had grown complacent in his position and had handed the day-to-day operations of the department to the Reyna brothers and several inept administrators.
They pointedly criticized the department for lax personnel screening which had allowed for the hiring of an Army deserter who was then promoted to a supervisory position over military veterans and for hiring a woman who was fired by the Texas Department of Public safety for taking bribes to change driving tests.
The fact that just as the election approached several deputies behaved badly including one who was arrested in neighboring Hidalgo county with a prostitute, and another changing an arrest report to lower the charges from a DWI to a lesser offense didn't help Lucio. And the escape of a prisoner from custody that killed a Brownsville resident and died in a hail of bullets after stealing his car gave the department and its policies huge public relations blackeye.
Garza's vigorous criticism of the Lucio incumbency finally prompted the sheriff and his supporters to take Garza seriously and respond with mailers critical of his youth and impertinence. And some wondered whether there was something behind Galvan's low-key campaign.
And while Lucio touted his record of being sheriff for more than 19 years and labeled Garza as a neophyte to police work who just happened to have a peace officer license, Garza's criticisms just sharpened.
He waged a vigorous a campaign as has been seen. In other election cycles, Lucio's opponents seem to have adhered to a gentlemen's agreement and not criticized him for being set in his ways. Not so with Garza. In the last days of the campaign he criticized the incumbent for not complying with jail standards from 2005 to 2012 and then repeatedly in 2015 and just recently, in 2019.
It wasn't until Feb. 11, 2020 - seven days before early voting began - that the county's jail was in compliance with state standards.
"Complacency breeds failure," ran the Garza half-page ad ran in the Brownsville Herald.
In the past, one a one-to-one contest, Lucio would not have to scramble to curry favor with the voters, but now there have been reports that he, the Reynas, and a cadre of department supporters have actually been knocking on doors and campaigning as they sense that with Galvan' entry onto the fray Lucio might have to bear the unthinkable - get forced into a runoff election.
In the last 20 years, the same ad stated, the department had not obtained dash cameras, computers in patrol units, or body cams. It wasn't until Feb. 17 - one day before early voting - that the sheriff held a press conference to announce the installation of several computers in some patrol units.
"Our community supported Omar Lucio for the last 20 years, yet he only provides results during campaign time," Garza's ad reads. "Enough is enough...let us secure the changes we need and the protection we deserve."
The stage is set for the generational confrontation. Will the voters side with a tech-savvy younger candidate who brings new ideas to the department or be content to side with the incumbent and administration who seem content to be set in their ways?