Last week, County Attorney Rod Ponton began running ads on Ojinaga radio in Spanish proclaiming “No más Marfa” (“No more Marfa”) –– perhaps as a response to his challenger, Marfa attorney Blair Park, who had been running a stream of Spanish ads there outlining her family’s history in the area and her desire to help the citizens of Presidio County. Reinforcing the idea that there is a division between Presidio and Marfa didn’t significantly help Ponton in the end, however, as he lost to Park 1,061-465 in Tuesday Democratic Primary election.
No Republicans ran in the primary for any county race, so Park will take the seat beginning in January 2025. “Thank you Presidio County, and I’m honored to become your county attorney,” Park said after the election. She stressed that her primary goal will be “uniting different areas of the county” and not having any bias to anyone or area in the county.
When the early vote tally was announced at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Park had a commanding lead of 808 to 395. Only a smattering of voters hit the polls on election day, so her supporters instantly knew Ponton couldn’t make a comeback. Ponton did not return a request for comment.
The differences in county commissioner vote totals weren’t as stark. The push for county unity was especially pertinent to the Precinct 1 race that includes parts of Presidio and Marfa. Samuel Sanchez, who campaigned together with Park, came in first with 41% of the vote, with Deirdre Hisler 10 points behind at 31%. The two will head to a runoff on May 28. Ruben Armendariz placed third with 28% of the vote.
“It was a great election, and we made a lot of good friends along the way,” Sanchez said. The Presidio resident and business owner also said he was behind county unity. “We wanted to get everybody together, no matter where they were from and unite everyone on one big team.”
Hisler said she thinks that most of the attention in this primary was on the Park-Ponton battle, so she’s hoping voters can do a “reset” and think about who will make the best county commissioner. “I have a big mountain to climb,” she said, citing her own relative lack of name recognition in south Presidio County. “Both my opponents have been out here a long time and have beautiful large families. But I feel really good about my potential of winning. The focus for many of us was to get Blair in office. Now that that race is finished, people will focus more on qualifications for commissioner.”
In Precinct 3, the margins were also close. Tiburcio “Butch” Acosta came out on top with 38% of the vote and will head to a runoff with Francisco “Franky” Ortiz at 22%. Irma Carrasco received 21% of the vote, and incumbent Jose Luis “Cabbie” Cabezuela got 19%.
Nancy Arevalo bested Norma Valenzuela 808-696 for county tax assessor-collector, while Sheriff Danny Dominguez ran unopposed and garnered 1,056 votes. Incumbent Precinct Constable Estevan “Steve” Marquez also ran unopposed and received 530 votes, while in the Precinct 2 constable race, Adan “Pugi” Covos defeated Rafael Acost 658-171. Both county party chairs ran unopposed, with Ramon Rodriguez returning for the Democrats and Dan Dunlap for the Republicans.
Brewster County
In the only contested Brewster County primary race, Democrat incumbent for Precinct 3 county commissioner, Ruben Ortega, beat Joe Portillo 91 to 29. Sheriff Ronny Dodson ran unopposed, as did Tax Assessor-Collector Sylvia Vega. Mary Bell Lockhart will return as county Democratic Party chair.
On the Republican side, Marisol Skelton ran unopposed to win the county attorney seat of retiring Steve Houston. Incumbent Jim Westermann ran unopposed for Precinct 1 county commissioner, and incumbent Flavio “Rene” Ybarra ran unopposed for Precinct 1 constable. Monica McBride, also unopposed, will return as county Republican chair.
Jeff Davis County
All the primary Fort Davis county races were in the Republican primary, so candidates will face no challengers from Democrats in the November General Election. Victor Lopez came out on top of the four-way race to fill the seat of Sheriff Bill Kitts, who did not run. Lopez took 37% of the vote and will head to a runoff with C.W. Stephen, who took 33%. Clay Woods came in third with 25%, and Rick McIvor came in fourth with 5%.
In a highly-watched contest for Precinct 3 county commissioner, incumbent John Davis retained his seat over challenger Graydon Hicks 76-33. Jody Adams ran unopposed in Precinct 1 and got 87 votes. Matt Blackman ran unopposed as county Republican chair, and unopposed Calvin Glover will remain county Democratic chair.
Regional races
In the 83rd District attorney race, Republican incumbent Ori White squeaked by Jesse Gonzales Jr., by just 56 votes, 1,621-1,565. And in the 394th District judge Republican contest, Monty Kimball came out on top over Bill Parham 1,387-1,003.