Tied result prompted re-vote for school board
Local first-round dead heat for first time since 2001
Polls closed Saturday evening, June 7, in a Pearsall ISD trustee re-vote that had been prompted by a tied election result on May 3.
Dora Mata-Rodriguez took 573 votes for the win over incumbent Eulogio “Logie” Rodriguez in the race for Place 6 at the Pearsall ISD trustees’ table. Rodriguez earned 398 votes in the second election.
Election results posted by the school district this week show Mata-Rodriguez having captured 324 votes in the early-voting period and 249 on Election Day, while Rodriguez earned only 206 in early voting and 192 on Saturday.
Preliminary tallies in the school district election had put Mata-Rodriguez and Rodriguez in a dead heat, each with 435 votes after a recount and after inclusion of any late-counted
provisional ballots that had been approved by election officials.
Mata-Rodriguez had been an estimated two votes ahead of Rodriguez in the unofficial tally before the May 15 recount, after which a re-election became inevitable.
Juanita Rendon had been a third candidate in the May 3 election and had earned 374 votes. Rendon has served as a school board trustee in the past.
Mata-Rodriguez will replace Rodriguez at the table by taking the oath of office at the next Pearsall ISD board meeting.
Tied votes in a school district or municipal election are rare in South Texas history, the most recent in Frio County having been a school board election at Dilley ISD in May 2001, when candidates Alvina Patterson and Dr. Herbert Garfield both earned 96 votes. Patterson ultimately prevailed to take the seat, defeating Garfield in a June re-vote.
