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The Rio Grande Valley spent Sunday celebrating the Fourth of July but thousands went to the polls south of the border in Mexico.

Elections for governor of Tamaulipas and 11 other states took place in Mexico. 

In Reynosa, schools, hundreds of buildings and even the city's central bus station were converted into polling places.

The race for governor was the big draw but so was the Reynosa's race for mayor.

In Tamaulipas, 22 seats for state representatives and in a total of 43 other cities were up for grabs.

Election worker Victor Hugo Barrera said officials were ready to receive voters.

There was low voter turnout reported early in the day but the numbers started to pick up in the afternoon.

"Yes, a lof of people have come with confidence and with everything in order," Barrera said in Spanish.

The elections came less than a week after the assassination of Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) party candidate Rodolfo Torre-Cantu.

Torre-Cantu was the frontrunner in the race for Tamauilpas governor but gunned down near Ciudad Victoria this past Monday.

The slain politician's brother Egidio Torre-Cantu took his place on the ballot and appeared to be the winner late Sunday night.

Many were worried about violence at the polls but everything went smoothly and orderly in Reynosa and other cities in Tamaulipas.

The PRI appeared to defeated Mexican President Felipe Calderon's National Action Party (PAN) in almost every race in Tamaulipas, except in Tampico.

Elderly Reynosa voter Maria Alicia Rodriguez said she was glad to get out and vote.

"It's my civic duty," she said in Spanish. "It's something I have to fulfill."