Plumbing 
Hector Luevano (left) shakes hands with his opponent, Everardo ‘Lalo’ Zamora, after winning the Dec. 14 runoff election for Uvalde mayor. (Photo by Pete Luna|Leader-News)
Hector R. Luevano, a retired peace officer and former city councilman, received 30 votes more than Everardo “Lalo” Zamora to win the Dec. 14 runoff election for mayor of Uvalde.
Luevano, who will be the city’s third Hispanic mayor, won by 51.15 percent, receiving 668 votes while his opponent Everardo “Lalo” Zamora received 638 votes, or 48.85 percent.
Uvalde City Council canvassed votes Dec. 19 at city hall. The county elections office received four mail-in ballots on Dec. 16 and, because they were postmarked by election day, Dec. 14, they along with one provisional ballot added five votes to the initial tally, three for Luevano and two for Zamora.
This created a 30-vote spread, compared to the election night difference of 29. This means 1,306 city residents voted in the election.
Councilman Chip King said voter turnout was “pretty poor” and he wished Uvalde could do better.
Voter turnout is typically low for runoff races. People within the city limits were eligible to vote in this race. In the Nov. 5 race that prompted the runoff, 4,784 voters split their picks between Luevano (2,046), Zamora (1,818), and Jennifer Gilleland, 923. Afterward, Gilleland endorsed Luevano in the runoff.
City residents voted Luevano’s brother, the late Rogelio R. “Roy” Luevano, the city’s first Hispanic mayor in 1988. George Garza followed in 1996 as the the city’s second Hispanic mayor.
Luevano said he was happy the election cycle is over, and he is ready to work with a largely new city council as mayor to help spearhead upcoming projects. “I feel happy. I’m glad we finally got this runoff behind us. We serve an awesome God, and thanks to him and my family, and, of course, all of my supporters that came out and supported me in this race,” Luevano said.
“The city council, we need to work together and keep the community in mind. You know, they voted, they wanted somebody there that they felt was going to do something for the community. That’s what I’m supposed to do, to help the people and to be a responsive mayor for the community.”
Zamora said he was disappointed to lose the race, and wondered what he might have done differently. He said that might be “Monday-morning quarterbacking” and congratulated Luevano on his win.
“I want to thank everybody that voted for me, and my wife and family for their support. I really appreciate everybody that came back and voted again,” Zamora said.
He said he had a discussion about voter turnout, and thought even getting 1,200 people out to vote for a runoff would be good, so he was pleased they exceeded that number.
Zamora serves as the county veterans service officer. He said he will remain an advocate for his neighborhood, and he hopes the city can unite moving forward.
“I’m going to continue doing what I’m doing, helping Uvalde. That’s my job, to make sure Uvalde and the veterans are taken care of.”
Luevano’s background
Luevano served as the District 2 Councilman from July 2021 through November 2024. He filled an unexpired three-year term left vacant after long-serving councilman John H. Flores Jr. died on March 25, 2021.
Luevano grew up in Uvalde where he attended public schools. He earned a criminal justice degree in 1979 from what is now Southwest Texas College. He attended the University of Texas in San Antonio.
Luevano retired in August 2010 from the Texas Department of Public Safety after three decades of service. He worked as a supervisor with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and as a criminal investigator with the Office of the Inspector General with the Texas Board of Criminal Justice. Luevano joined the Uvalde County Sheriff’s Office in January 2021 and resigned in April 2022.
He served on the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District board of trustees from 2005 through May of 2012. He spent about two years on the Uvalde County Appraisal District board of directors, resigning in July 2019.
He and his wife, Noemi, have three grown children and six grandchildren, and attend First Baptist Church of Uvalde.
Previous vacancy
In the Nov. 5 general election, none of the three candidates received a majority vote, 50 percent plus one vote, to win election to the seat. The city charter mandates a runoff election between the top two vote-getters in this scenario.
The mayor’s seat has stood empty since April, when then-mayor Cody Smith stepped down for health reasons.
Smith overcame two opponents in a Nov. 7, 2023, special election to fill one year remaining on Don McLaughlin Jr.’s final term.
Voters first elected McLaughlin mayor in May 2012. During his tenure, voters approved changing the city charter to have the mayor’s term length extend four years instead of two.
Voters last elected McLaughlin in 2020, but he stepped down in 2023 to run for and ultimatley win the State Representative, District 80, seat after fellow Uvaldean Tracy O. King announced he would not seek reelection after about three decades in office.
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