Candidates for San Angelo police chief speak out ahead of runoff elections

Lt. Mike Hernandez and Sgt. Travis Griffith are preparing to face off in a runoff election June 15 to determine who will be San Angelo’s next police chief.

Hernandez received the most votes, followed by Griffith.

Where and when to vote early

Early voting will take place in June at the Edd B. and Frances Frink Keyes Building at 113 W. Beauregard Ave. instead of.

From June 3rd to 7th from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m
From June 10th to 11th from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m

The last day to receive a ballot in the mail is June 4th.

“A close race”

Griffith said he knew Saturday’s election “would be a close race due to good competition” but he had many supporters who voted in the general election.

As he looks forward to the upcoming runoff election, he said he is excited to get back into the campaign trail.

He said he was “not a politician, just a guy trying to make a difference.”

Griffith is a police officer with over 15 years of experience. If elected, he hopes to make San Angelo an example of what law enforcement should look like that puts safety, accountability and transparency first.

He also hopes to establish new drug taskforces by working with other local authorities to ensure real enforcement on drug issues such as lower drug prices and higher demand.

He wants to create new anti-drug programs for local schools, which hasn’t happened yet.

More:Live blog on election night: The race for San Angelo police chief is heading to a runoff election

“Get started.” . . again’

On Monday, Hernandez, the top vote-getter, said he “would have preferred to win outright on election night” but was prepared for a runoff because there were three candidates.

“The threatening weather on Election Day almost certainly affected voter turnout,” he said.

According to Tom Green County’s final unofficial election results, 15.31% of registered voters cast ballots in Saturday’s election.

Hernandez said he wants to work to attract new voters who didn’t show up to vote Saturday to the runoff.

“It’s good to start the race as the front runner. We were only 33 votes short of an overall victory,” he said.

Hernandez said his family and campaign team took Sunday off to rest. They will regroup this week to review the runoff schedules “and get going again.”

Hernandez, a division commander and nearly 34-year veteran of the force, joined the San Angelo Police Department in 1990 after a brief stint with the U.S. Marines.

If elected, he hopes to first change the culture.

“The motto of law enforcement is to protect and serve. I want to change that culture because we serve more than we protect,” Hernandez said.

A numbers game

In the end, looking at all voting numbers, Hernandez received 49.52% of the vote, just 199 votes ahead of Griffiths, who received 46.51%.

Christopher Cimino received almost 4 percent of the vote and will therefore not take part in the upcoming runoff elections.

6,622 voters took part in the election for police chief on Saturday.

According to the preliminary reconciliation of election results released Monday, most voters cast their votes in person, for a total of 7,206 in-person votes in the county election.

Where and when to vote early

“A close race”

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