Weslaco elections remain up in air

WESLACO - Voters here won't know whether elections in May will go ahead as planned until a few days before early voting begins.

A state district court judge is set to hear a challenge on April 24 from a group of Weslaco residents about the legality of a new single-member district voting plan. Early voting begins April 28.

Nineteen people are running for six slots on the Weslaco City Commission, the result of new election rules that created two seats and opened the others to election.

But a group of Weslaco residents sued Mayor Buddy De La Rosa in June and filed a motion for summary judgment last month, arguing the city illegally instituted the new election plan.

If Cameron County state District Judge Leonel Alejandro rules in their favor, the fate of the elections would be up in the air. It is not clear why the case is being heard in Cameron County.

But Patrick Kennedy, a candidate for the District 6 seat, said it would be "heartbreaking" if the court overturned the city's election plan after he spent time and money talking to voters.

District 5 candidate Roy Tijerina said he too would be frustrated if the election is tossed, given the money he's spent on the race and the excitement he's had about setting up political change.

But other candidates said they weren't worried about the lawsuit and tried not to think about it.

"It has no impact on my election," District 1 candidate Andres S. Noriega said. "We're going to go forward."

The city adopted the single-member district plan last year after residents signed petitions supporting the cause and voted for it in a referendum.

Unlike most Valley cities, which elect commissioners to at-large positions, Weslaco is set to elect commissioners from six different geographic districts of the city. Each district is home to about 4,700 voting-age residents.

Supporters of single-member districts said they will help bring representation to all parts of Weslaco.

Raymond Givilancz, a Weslaco school board member who was among those who sued De La Rosa over the plan, said that's not the case.

He said under single-member districts, candidates need only a fraction of the votes they would normally need to win election. That means they would be accountable to fewer citizens, Givilancz said.

But, he added, he had never intended the lawsuit to last this long.

"I think it's already gone too far," he said. "All these people have obviously started running."