BY ROBERT MORALES
Voters went to the polls last Saturday to vote for mayor, two city aldermen, two school board members, two groundwater conservation members and three hospital district members.
Glenn Humphries was elected as Van Horn’s new mayor, while Rudy Hinojos will return as alderman after having served on the city council several years ago. Incumbent Domingo (Mingo) Corralez won re-election as alderman. Incumbent Cheri Friday lost her seat on city council by 20 votes. However, newcomer Ryan Martinez secured exactly the same number of votes as Ms. Friday – 153 votes.
Becky Brewster, daughter to former Mayor Okey Lucas, lost to Mr. Humphries by only 24 votes. Cary Robinson, the third candidate running for mayor, came in a distant third with 72 votes.
“I am thrilled and humbled at the same time,†said Mr. Humphries, “that the voters placed their trust in me to be their new mayor. As I said to all of the people I met while campaigning, I will serve this office to the best of my abilities. I also want to thank Becky and Cary for running a very clean and energetic campaign.â€
The other two candidates running for Town of Van Horn aldermen were Isaac Badillo and Cody Davis. Mr. Badillo received 73 votes while Mr. Davis received 72 votes.
As for CCAISD board of trustees, two positions were open – that of incumbent Duane Corrales and the seat vacated by Dion Corralez, who chose not to run for re-election.
Leticia Hernandez and Sandy Urias were victorious in their bids for trustee. Ms. Hernandez received 327 votes while Ms. Urias received 206 votes. Mr. Corrales received 155 votes.
Refugio Corrales and Vance Cottrell both won re-election for their seats on the Culberson County Groundwater Conservation District. Mr. Corrales secured 152 votes and Mr. Cottrell received 263 votes. Challenger Cruz Parada received 133 votes and Robert Morales received 123 votes.
A total of 532 votes were cast last Saturday for a multitude of offices ranging from mayor to alderman to school board trustees, and others.
Most of the persons running for office were given an opportunity to present their views as a candidate profile in the Advocate. The Advocate did not interview candidates running for the hospital district or for the groundwater conservation district.
From the outset, it was clear that the majority of the candidates were really excited about running for an office, incumbents as well as those choosing to run for the first time.
Watching all this unfold from the sidelines, it was refreshing to see the younger citizens wanting a chance to be on the city council. These younger candidates made a valiant effort in their campaigning, and you could feel their energy when they spoke to you and to the voters.
Losing an election is not a bad thing, and it’s certainly not the end of the world. The beauty of our democracy is that all of us have the opportunity to have our voice heard, either at the ballot box, or by running for an office.
Those who lost this election will try and figure out what they did wrong, and how they could have knocked on more doors, made more contacts and appeal to more people. In the end, there is no magic formula to winning.
It might be a different story and a different outcome if every registered voter exercised his or her privilege to vote, but that would be the ideal situation. In the real world, all candidates can do is try and reach as many voters as possible in a variety of ways to convey a message.
