District 1 face off ends today

The two candidates in today’s election for the District 1 City Commission seat have talked to residents for months while on the campaign trail.

They also have come up with differing perspectives of what the two top concerns in the district are.

“The same as it was four years ago: streets and another issue is the drainage,” incumbent Ricardo Longoria Jr. said on the eve of today’s election.

Challenger Catalina Presas-Garcia’s take differs: “The need for youth programs and work. We have the workforce, but not the jobs.”

District 1 is located in the southeast quadrant of the city, which covers a portion of Southmost. City staff Friday was not able to provide District 1’s estimated current population or other demographics. Today voters will choose a commissioner for that spot and three others, District 2, At-Large A and B. Voters will also choose a new mayor.

If Longoria wins re-election, he’s promised that he’s a new man, older, wiser and more informed than the freshman commissioner voted into office four years ago.

“I wish I could have spent more time on the campaign,” Longoria said Friday. He explained that as an incumbent, he has had commission and committee meetings to attend and commitments that he had to keep. “I am wishing I would have had more time to reach out,” Longoria said.

If Presas-Garcia wins, the district gets a new representative and the second commissioner for Southmost since the city went to single-member districts.

“They say, it’s the year of the woman,” Presas-Garcia said. The campaign has been both very satisfying and emotionally and physically draining, she said.

“The easiest part of the campaign was that I have people behind me. The most difficult was counting the number of days left to election day. I had never wished as much for a Saturday to get here,” Presas-Garcia said.

Longoria also expressed optimism about today’s outcome.

“Si Dios quiere (if it’s God’s wish), everything is going to turn out fine.”