Candidates wait at courthouse as Val Verde posts unofficial primary results

Candidates and campaign teams clustered outside the Val Verde County Courthouse as the county posted an "UNOFFICIAL RESULTS" report for the joint primary election held March 3, 2026; polls closed at 7:00 p.m., and party chairs and election staff emerged to read returns about 9:45 p.m. Those who came from the courthouse to announce returns included Rose Hernandez, chair of the Val Verde County Democratic Party; Sharon Pettit, chair of the Val Verde County Republican Party; County Clerk Teresa Esther Chapoy; and elections clerk Cynthia Reyes.

The most concrete county-level vote totals available in local reporting showed incumbent County Judge Lewis G. Owens Jr. defeating former Del Rio mayor Bruno J. Lozano in the Democratic primary. 830Times reported Owens drew 1,998 votes to Lozano’s 1,139, a margin of 859 votes. The county’s posted "UNOFFICIAL RESULTS" document is the primary local summary of precinct and contest returns; those totals should be checked against the county posting for final validation.

In the county commissioner contests, Gustavo "Gus" Flores won the Democratic primary for County Commissioner Precinct 4, defeating former Val Verde County Clerk Generosa "Janie" Ramon, 564 to 384, a margin of 180 votes, as reported by 830Times. Juan Carlos Vazquez prevailed in the Democratic primary for County Commissioner Precinct 2; no precinct-level vote totals for that contest were included in the supplied excerpts. After the precinct 2 result was announced, Vazquez told reporters, "I’m super excited. I want to thank all of my supporters. I also wanted to thank the people that didn’t support me; they listened, and everyone made a choice. I’m looking forward to keeping Precinct 2, Del Rio and Val Verde County moving forward. I’m here for the people, so I’m really excited."

Local reporting also showed Loida S. Arellano winning the Democratic nomination for Justice of the Peace Precinct 3 over Juan Roberto Martinez; 830Times identified Arellano as a funeral director and Martinez as a sales manager at Harbor Freight Tools, though the excerpt did not include vote totals for that race. Delrionews’ candidate roster supplied a full list of Democratic and Republican primary candidates that appeared on Val Verde ballots, including incumbents Jesse James Trevino for Justice of the Peace Precinct 1 and Hilda Castillo Lopez for Justice of the Peace Precinct 4, and Republican County Clerk incumbent Teresa Esther Chapoy facing Adriana Acosta.

Republican outcomes were flagged in local headlines: 830Times ran a headline grouping showing "Chapoy, Robles win primary races; Bosquez, Dissler, Vicuna get primary nods," but the supplied excerpts did not list vote totals for those Republican contests. County Clerk Chapoy was among the election officials who stepped outside the courthouse during the results announcement that evening.

Regional coverage platforms supplemented the local reporting: KSAT ran a live-results embed and advised early voting results would be released at 7:00 p.m. on March 3, and a KSAT stream with Myra Arthur and Ernie Zuniga was available to follow returns as they populated. KSAT staff names credited on the feed included Spencer Heath, Nate Kotisso, Rebecca Salinas, Bill Taylor and Kolten Parker.

Val Verde County’s posted "UNOFFICIAL RESULTS" document remains the county-prepared summary of precinct and contest returns; several races cited in local coverage lack precinct-level totals in the excerpts available here and will require cross-checking against that county posting and confirmation from County Clerk Teresa Esther Chapoy’s office before any counts are treated as final. Certification and canvass dates were not included in the published excerpts.