Brownsville ISD board president heading toward reelection

Nov. 5—Jessica G. Gonzalez, the Brownsville ISD Board of Trustees president, won reelection Tuesday.

With all 45 precincts reporting, Gonzalez won the race for position 3 on the board, defeating Victor Caballero, a retired educator and former BISD principal who also ran in 2020.

Gonzalez received 21,487 votes, or 52.6% of the total, to 19,334 and 47.4% for Caballero, according to complete but unofficial returns from the Cameron County Elections office.

The race was one of four BISD races on the ballot.

Board Vice President Daniella Lopez Valdez also won reelection to her position 5 seat, beating out Caty Presas-Garcia, a real estate professional and former BISD trustee, and Nelda Rocha, a retired BISD educator.

Lopez Valdez polled 20,233 votes, 49.8% of the total, to 9,359 votes and 23% for Presas Garcia, and Rocha's 11,027 votes, 27.2% of the total.

The Position 6 race was a rematch between Marisa Franco Leal, who earlier this year claimed her seat after a 3 1/2 -year battle with longtime board member Minerva M. Pena.

Pena polled 21,121 votes, 52% of the total, to 19,538 votes and 48% for Franco Leal.

In 2020, Franco Leal won the seat by one vote. Pena won the recount by eight votes and was sworn in, but Franco Leal challenged. The votes of 16 voters who all used the same address, a warehouse near the Brownsville airport, were discovered and thrown out. A Texas Supreme Court decision resulted in a new election in May 2024, which Franco Leal won.

Franco Leal has served about six months of the four-year term she won in 2020. A win Tuesday would have given her another four-year term. Instead, Pena earned another term. She was first elected in 2008.

The Position 7 race had four contestants: former board member and blogger Erasmo Castro, who was elected in 2018 but resigned; Tim Ramirez, who ran for the board previously and served as an interim trustee in the Franco Leal-Pena dispute; Farley Trevino; and Augustine "Augie" Anduiza.

Castro won with 15,390 votes, 36.8% of the total cast. Ramirez polled 9,069 votes, or 21.7%; Trevino received 13,209 votes, 31.6%, and Anduiza got 4,166 votes, 10% of the total, the results showed.

The BISD board will now have to canvass the results, administer the oath of office to new members, and elect new officers.

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Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect final election results.

LIVE RESULTS: The Rio Grande Valley's vote in the Nov. 5, 2024 general election

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