Plumbing 
Pete Luna|Leader-News
Voters, candidates, supporters and others gather outside the Uvalde Leader-News office to await results from the Nov. 8 election. The election night watch party is a decades-old tradition at the newspaper office.
Uvalde County voters reelected incumbents for for county judge, commissioners, and Precinct 1 Justice of the Peace; selected former office holders for JP6 and county clerk; and favored creating a new emergency services district in Concan.
Incumbents won both local races that featured write-in candidates.
Republican Steven T. Kennedy is set to begin his eighth term as Pct. 1 Justice of the Peace after receiving 2,138, or 92.63 percent, of the 2,308 votes cast. Write-in challenger Tina Quintanilla-Taylor received 7.37 percent, with 170 votes.
There were 420 undervotes and two overvotes. An undervote means a voter did not choose either candidate, while an overvote indicates a voter chose multiple candidates in the race.
Democrat incumbent Mariano Pargas Jr. was reelected to a fourth consecutive term as Pct. 2 County Commissioner, after facing off with three write-in candidates.
He has served four years as a Uvalde County constable, five years as Justice of the Peace, and over 16 non-consecutive years as a county commissioner.
“I feel truly blessed, and I thank my family and all the supporters for supporting me, and continuing to believe in me,” Pargas said. “I am ready to continue what we’ve started, and there is a lot of work to be done.”
Pargas, a lieutenant with the Uvalde Police Department, was in charge of the 24 city police officers present at Robb Elementary School during the May 24 school shooting. He has been on administrative leave for months as an independent investigation into UPD actions is conducted.
Per county elections administrator Melissa Jones, there were 4,268 registered voters in the Pct. 2 commissioner race, making voter turnout about 30.13 percent.
Pargas received 584 votes, or 45.41 percent of the 1,286 votes cast.
He was challenged by restaurateur Julio Valdez, who received 440 votes, or 34.21 percent; Javier Jacinto Cazares, father of Jacklyn Cazares, a student who died as a result of the school shooting, 205 votes, or 15.94 percent; and community activist Diana Olvedo-Karau, 57 votes, or 4.43 percent.
Concan
Concan area residents approved the creation of a proposed a new Emergency Services District, covering approximately 107 square miles around Concan, with 249, or 68.60 percent, voting for the measure and 114, or 31.40 percent, voting against it. Service districts create a taxable entity that helps fund emergency services such as local fire departments and EMS.
Pete Luna|Leader-News
Uvalde County Judge Bill Mitchell, who was reelected to a 10th term, and his wife, Katie, outside the newspaper office. The photo was taken Nov. 8, after election returns reflected Mitchell’s victory.
County judge, clerk
Voters overwhelmingly chose Democratic incumbent County Judge Bill Mitchell, who has held the office since 1987, for a 10th term over Republican challenger Patrick McGrew.
“My appreciation is expressed to all of Uvalde County for this outstanding vote of confidence. Representing the citizens of this county is a true honor in which I continue to pledge my devotion and commitment. I thank my wife, Katie, for being my ever-present cheerleader,” Mitchell said. “And I thank my campaign team led by Albert Barrios and Abigail Flores for such a tremendous job.”
Mitchell drew 59.44 percent, with 4,664 votes, to McGrew’s 40.56 percent, or 3,182 votes. There were 7,846 ballots cast in the race, with 135 undervotes, where voters failed to make a selection on the given race, and six overvotes, where more than one candidate was selected.
In a close race, former county clerk Donna Williams, running on the Republican ticket, defeated Democratic incumbent Valerie Del Toro Romero.
Williams, elected to the clerk’s office in 2014, lost the Democratic primary to Romero in March of 2018.
“I am so excited to get back to work for Uvalde County. I was very nervous, I knew it was going to be a close race, yeah, for everybody, but I’m just very thankful,” Williams said.
Williams garnered 53.67 percent or 4,221 of the 7,865 votes cast, with Romero receiving 46.33 percent, or 3,644 votes. There were 121 undervotes and six overvotes.
Commissioner, JP races
Precinct 4 County Commissioner and Democratic candidate Ronald Garza was reelected, receiving 54.55 percent, or 1,067 or the 1,956 votes cast. Republican challenger Jose F. Suarez received 45.45 percent, or 889 votes. There were 29 undervotes and two overvotes.
Garza was elected to the office in 2018.
“I’d like to thank the good Lord for allowing our campaign to be victorious, and thanks to the great people of Precinct 4 who supported me. I want to continue representing Precinct 4 with honesty, dignity and always working to see that the needs of the precinct be met,” Garza said.
Former judge Neto Luna, a Democratic candidate, defeated Republican challenger Robert Moss for Precinct 6 Justice of the Peace.
Luna received 914 votes, or 60.25 percent of the 1,517 votes cast, while Moss received 603 votes, or 39.75 percent. There were 40 undervotes.
Unopposed candidates declared reelected include 38th Judicial District clerk Christina J. Ovalle; county treasurer Joni Deorsam; Precinct 2 Justice of the Peace, Cynthia N. Casburn; Pct. 3 JP Ernest Moore; and Pct. 4 JP Lalo Diaz.
Neil Sturdevant|Leader-News
Uvalde Leader-News general manager Pete Luna (left) and sports editor James Volz update the election results boards outside of the newspaper office after the county elections office released updated Nov. 8 returns.
School trustees
The top four vote-getters in the Utopia Independent School District trustee election were Chad Hillis with 260 votes; Chance Dean, 226; Sugar Moore Bennett, 179; and Betty Ann Boyce, 151. The other five Utopia candidates results included: Savanna Bartolo, 86 votes; Chad Feller, 113 votes; Tanya Cox, 122 votes; Steve Harthcock, 80 votes; James Long, 88 votes.
For Knippa Independent School District, Place 2, Nyland Falkenberg received 76.35 percent, or 226 votes, to Sindy E. Ortiz’s 70 votes, or 23.65 percent. There were 13 undervotes.
For Knippa ISD, Place 3, Ted Sanderlin received 176 votes, or 58.86 percent, to Justin K. Lands’ 123 votes, or 41.14 percent. There were 10 undervotes.
Overview
Voter turnout is typically lower for midterm elections such as this year, which do not include a presidential race.
There were 7,987 total ballots cast, or about 45.74 percent of of the 17,463 that were registered to vote in the Nov. 8 general election.
On Nov. 3, 2020, when there was a presidential race on the line, voter turnout was 59.87 percent, with 10,435 of 17,430 registered voters casting ballots.
In 2018, a midterm election featuring no presidential race, turnout was about 46.68 percent, or 7,991 of the 17,118 registered voters listed by the Texas Secretary of State.
Pete Luna|Leader-News
Joined by her son Joe Morales, newly-elected Uvalde County Clerk Donna Williams speaks with supporters outside the Uvalde Leader-News office. Williams defeated incumbent Democrat Valerie Del Toro Romero.
