Gonzales avoids runoff in Court-at-Law No. 3 race
David Gonzales III is the victor in the Democratic primary race for the Cameron County Court-at-Law No. 3 judge’s seat, and will represent the Democratic Party on the ballot for the seat in the general election Nov. 2.
He narrowly avoided a runoff with local attorney Dolores G. Zarate, one of Gonzales’ three challengers in the race. Gonzales won 7,858 votes compared to 4,391 votes for Zarate, which gave Gonzales the breathing room he needed to avoid a runoff by more than 100 votes. The requirement for avoiding a runoff is 50 percent of the total vote plus one. Of Gonzales’ total, 3,758 votes were cast in early voting.
Everardo Garcia and Robert H. Mendoza came in third and fourth, respectively. There were no Republican challengers for the seat in that party’s primary. Neither was there an incumbent in the race: The Court-at-Law No. 3 seat was formerly held by Judge Daniel Robles, who retired last year before the end of his third term as judge. Retired Judge Menton Murray Jr. has presided over the court for the remainder of Robles’ term, which ends Dec. 31.
Gonzales has been executive first assistant for Cameron County District Attorney Armando R. Villalobos for the past four years. He graduated form Harlingen High School in 1990 and received a bachelor’s degree in comparative politics from Columbia University in New York. He earned his law degree in 1998 from the University of Houston Law Center.
Prior to working for the district attorney’s office, Gonzales served as indigent defense counsel for Cameron County Court-at-Law No. 3. He also worked in private practice in Harlingen with attorneys Jim Solis, Moises Vela, Manny Vela, Oscar de la Fuente and Daniel Sanchez.
Gonzales was unsuccessful in his 2006 bid to land the Democratic Party’s nomination for state representative District 38.
