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Voters, get ready for a score of runoff elections before Christmas

Posted at 7:13 PM, Nov 07, 2018
and last updated 2018-11-07 20:19:39-05

Nothing says the holiday season quite like a bunch of runoff elections.

 

That’s what Corpus Christi voters will get over the next few weeks — even down to an additional holiday dose of yard signs and political commercials to boot.

Five city runoff elections and a Del Mar College trustee election are scheduled on Dec. 18, with early voting set to begin on Dec. 10.

The biggest race will be the mayoral runoff as Joe McComb squares off with political novice Michael Hall. McComb polled 36,113 votes to early 49.73 percent. Hall collected 14,260 votes to earn 19.64 percent of the vote.

In District 1, incumbent Everett Roy will face yoga teacher Joy Miller. Roy attracted 3,262 votes for 38 percent, compared to Miller’s 2,616 votes and 31 percent. Roy was appointed to the seat when former Councilwoman Carolyn Vaughn resigned to join the Nueces County Commissioners Court. She won re-election on Tuesday.

Miller made the runoff by collecting eight more votes than third-place finisher Julian Firo.

In District 2, incumbent Ben Molina will meet Sylvia Campos in the runoff.

Molina collected 3,818 votes for 40 percent of the total, compared to 3,310 votes and 35 percent for Campos.

The running in Tuesday’s election was a reduction for Molina, who polled more than 60 percent of the votes when he beat former Councilman Brian Rosas two years ago.

No matter what the outcome, districts 3 and 5 were going to have new representation. But with four or more candidates in each race, no one had the percentages to pull out a victory.

In District 3, Roland Barrera will face Eric Cantu in December. Only 614 votes separated the two front-runners in the race. Barrera collected 3,901 votes for 42 percent and Cantu collected  3,2187 votes for 35 percent.

In District 5, Gil Hernandez and Paul Thurman will meet in the runoff after a close election where no candidate polled more than 30 percent. Hernandez had 4,656 votes for 29 percent and Thurman polled 4,075 votes for 25 percent.

And in the at-large rate for Del Mar regent runoff, Hector “Coach” Salinas will meet Sandra Longoria Messbarger. Salinas collected 23,702 votes for 38.3 percent of the total. Longoria-Messbarger had 19,861 for 32.1 percent in the three-person race.