Two candidates remove names from ballot

In a surprise move, two candidates who had filed to run for office in the Nov. 5 PSJA ISD Board of Trustees election have withdrawn from the race.

Roberto Loredo, former PSJA ISD assistant superintendent and Donna ISD supe, said Monday that his decision to withdraw from the race is based on “personal reasons.”

That now means Place 5, traditionally a San Juan seat, will include two names instead of three — Griselda Quintanilla vs. Pete Garcia.

For reasons not yet known, Trino Medina, former Alamo mayor and city commissioner, has also withdrawn from this year’s school board election. Meaning, Place 6, traditionally a seat reserved for Alamo residents, will now have three candidates battling it out instead of four: Isaac Santa Maria; Ramona Barron; and Janie Solis.

The names still remaining on the Nov. 5 ballot include:

Place 4: Eleazar Guajardo; Rick Rodriguez.

Place 7: Cynthia Gutierrez; Victor Perez.

Of the four races up for grabs this year, the one that will presumably draw the most attention will be the fight for Place 7.

That seat, which traditionally is set aside for an Alamo resident, includes Cynthia Gutierrez and Victor Perez, who are both tied, in a professional sense, to the City of Pharr.

Perez is the longtime director of the Pharr Economic Development Corp., while Gutierrez is the City of Pharr’s director of public health.

The thing that sets the two candidates apart, besides gender, is that Gutierrez resides in San Juan, although that didn’t stop her from beating Alamo resident Celso Salinas in the 2020 election, with the help of the Zambrano brothers, “Jesse” and Jorge, both of whom have chosen not to seek re-election this year after two terms in office.

Victor Perez, on the other hand, has been an Alamo resident for many years if not his entire life, while also serving as an educator for many years.

Four years ago, as the Place 6 incumbent, Perez went head-to-head against his former political ally, “Jesse” Vela, Jr., RIP, who won the election by approximately 3,600 votes after joining forces with the Zambranos.

In 2016, Perez ran unopposed for re-election while his then-political ally, “Jesse” Vela, beat his opponent, Maria Coplea, by a margin of approximately 60 percent to 40 percent to capture Place 7.

The following year, 2020, Vela quit Place 7 to successfully run against Victor Perez.

This past May, at the age of 76, “Jesse” Vela passed away, leaving his seat vacant after having served 10 years on the PSJA school board.