According to the Brownsville Independent School District's listing of the appointments of a campaign treasurer by candidate application for a place on school board general election ballot, 14 potential candidates will vie for five seats on the board. The filing deadline is 5 p.m. today and there's no telling whether other candidates will wait until the last minute to file an appointment of their treasurer and for a place on the ballot before the deadline.
So far, they are (in alphabetical order until they draw for the ballot):
Place 2:
Jaime Diez
Denise Garza
Frank Olivo
(Currently, that seat is held by Eddie Garcia, who was appointed to fill the seat vacated by Erasmo Castro. GArcia has indicated he will leave it and run for Place 7.)
Place 3:
Viro Cardenas
(I) Phil Cowen
Jessica G. Gonzalez
Argelia Miller
Place 5:
Erasmo Castro
Daniela Valdez
Zachary A. Belvins
(This seat is currently held by incumbent Laura Perez Reyes who won the Democratic nomination for Cameron County District Clerk and will serve until the school district election Nov. 3. She faces Republican opponent Mirla Veronica Deaton in the general election.)
Place 6:
Marisa Leal
(I) Minerva Peña
Place 7:
Carlos Elizondo
Eddie Garcia
(This seat is currently held by incumbent Dr. Sylvia P. Atkinson. Atkinson, currently under federal indictment for bribery and conspiracy and facing a removal petition in state court, may at the last moment file for reelection despite her legal troubles. If she does, it throws a bucketful of monkey wrenches in the mix. Garcia was appointed to replace Castro in Place 2. Elizondo is currently facing trial on theft charges having to do with his stint as the treasurer of the Firefighters PAC.)
Other individuals have made noises about running including former BISD trustee Catalina Presas-Garcia, who has indicated she might run for Place 3 against Cowen. Carlos McHale Esparza, son of blogger Jerry McHale, has also been touted by his father as a candidate although, like Presas-Garcia, had not filed as of press time.)