A little piece of Rio Grande Valley political history was made on Saturday evening.
Brownsville voters went to the polls and elected Estela Chavez-Vasquez to the At-Large Place A seat of the Brownsville City Commission.
Her victory created the first female-majority city commission in the history of Brownsville or any other Valley city.
Action 4 News spoke to City Commissioners Melissa Zamora and Jessica Tetreau about Chavez-Vasquez's victory.
They both welcomed Chavez-Vasquez to the commission.
“We have four new members on the city commission, and that completely changes the dynamic of what I can now call a team,” Zamora said.
Tetreau told Action 4 News that she was glad to have a female majority on the Brownsville City Commission stating it would be a “positive” change.
“There will be a lot of things changing for the better,” Tetreau said.
Zamora had been the lone female on the city commission until Tetreau and Gowen were elected in May.
Chavez-Vasquez's ballot box victory for the runoffs on Saturday gave women four out of the six seats on the city commission.
Local political expert Tony Knopp told Action 4 News that women have made great strides in American society but their gains have been somewhat slower in the Valley.
"I'd be very surprised if there were a female-majority city commission in any other Valley city," Knopp said.
Knopp said the female majority makes for an interesting footnote but believes that it won’t create a big shift with respect to policy matters.
However, Knopp noted that Chavez-Vasquez and District 4 Commissioner-elect John Villarreal are both political allies of the city’s new Mayor Tony Martinez.
“He should have a very strong hand going forward in policy matters,” Knopp said.
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