Corpus Christi Mayor Paulette Guajardo cruised to a landslide victory in the Tuesday, Nov. 8, election, while Nueces County Judge Barbara Canales lost her bid for re-election to Republican Connie Scott, who ended the night with an 11-point lead.
In City Council races, three of the five district seats will be decided in runoff elections Dec. 15 as no candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote. Early voting will be conducted one week before the runoff. For District 1, incumbent Billy Lerma received 39.1 percent of the vote to challenger Everett Roy's 34.6 percent. Roy is a former council member. A third candidate, Tracy McCall, received 26.3 percent of the vote. For District 2, an open seat after Councilor Ben Molina decided not to seek re-election, Mark Scott and Sylvia Campos came within two points of each other. Scott, a former council member, received 43.4 percent of the vote to 42.1 percent for Sylvia Campos. Brian Rosas received 14.5 percent of the vote. 
The third runoff will be in District 3 between challenger Eric Cantu, who received 47 percent of the vote, and incumbent Roland Barrera, who got 41.4 percent. Armon Alex received 11.6 percent. 
District 4 will be represented by newcomer Dan Suckley, who drew no opposition for the open seat vacated by Greg Smith. Smith withdrew from the race after filing for re-election. 
In District 6, incumbent Gil Hernandez defeated challenger Christopher Hegg with 62.2 percent of the vote. 
At-large incumbent John Martinez lost his bid for re-election to Jim Klein, who came in third in an eight-candidate race. The top three vote-getters are seated as at-large members. Returning as at-large councilors are incumbents Mike Pusley and Michael Hunter. 
Mayor Guajardo netted an overwhelming 72.65 percent of the vote against opponent John White. Guajardo was first elected mayor in 2020. Before that, she served two terms on the City Council as an at-large representative. 
All members of the council were up for election in the Tuesday midterm election.
Voters also approved two city propositions. 
Proposition C, land acquisition and design costs for fire and police facilities and improvements to the Fire Department Resource Center, was approved with 74.13 percent of the vote. 
Proposition D for renovations to La Retama Central Library won 59 percent of the vote. 
Also on the ballot were partisan local races for the Nueces County Commissioners Court. On the ballot with Judge Canales were commissioners for precincts 2 and 4, both incumbents and both running without opposition. Returning to the Commissioners Court are Democrat Joe A. "JAG" Gonzalez in Precinct 2 and Republican Brent Chesney in Precinct 4. 
chuck@thepicayune.com