STIJA POLL NUMBERS

 Politics has been, is and will forever be nasty. Look at the present presidential race. This confrontation may turn out to be the nastiest in American history although there have been donnybrooks in the past, particularly throughout the 19th century. One outcome led directly to the Civil War.

So get over being disgusted or shocked or disappointed by dirty politics. It is not the exception. It is the rule. With social media running amuck and individuals able to post anonymously or use their own names and unleash wild accusations that will be read by thousands in a local election and millions in a national election, competing for office is not for the faint of heart.

Returning to the word civil again, there has probably never been a less civil contest for seats on the Brownsville Independent School District (BISD) Board of Trustees. At The McHale Report we do our best to depict the Third World Capital of the United States' reality show in living color. We will be typing to our heart's content over the next two months.

Without going into details about the candidates, the South Texas Independent Journalists Association (STIJA) released its first poll. STIJA

President Anthony Starr offered a cursory assessment of the results: "This is just the beginning. We are merely trying to get a feel for the land. With different stories breaking on the blogs every day, it is impossible to predict candidates' ultimate fortunes. We post our most current numbers. You draw your own conclusions."

Position 2: Denise Garza, 42%; Frankie Olivo, 38%, Jaime Diez, 20%.

Position 3: Philip Cowen, 49%; Jessica Gonzalez, 24%; Argelia Miller, 21%; Viro Cardenas, 6%.

Position 5: Daniella Lopez-Valdez, 56%; Erasmo Castro, 44%

Position 6: Minerva Peña, 38%; Joe Rodriguez, 35%; Marisa Leal, 27%.

Position 7: Eddie Garcia, 57%; Carlos Elizondo, 43%.

There are no runoffs. A candidate only needs a plurality to win. For those who don't know the meaning of the word plurality (Not all of our citizens were well-educated in the BISD), the candidate with the most votes wins. No majority (50% plus one vote) is required.