The State Bar of Texas announced that El Paso lawyer Sylvia Borunda Firth, who garnered 37 more votes than her opponent, has won the race for president-elect.

But Firth's opponent, Pablo Almaguer of Edinburg, is calling for a recount and runoff election, arguing that neither candidate won a majority of the vote, which is required in the Texas Bar policy manual.

Out of 19,298 cast ballots, Firth won 9,515 votes, or 49.31%, while Almaguer won 9,478 votes, or 49.11%, according to election results.

Also, 1.58% went to write-in candidates.

'No Candidate Met That Mark'

If Firth's election stands, she would be the first Hispanic woman to serve as Texas Bar president, and the first El Paso attorney elected to the position.

"The reason I threw my hat in the ring is I very much wanted to see diversity in leadership at the state bar," said Firth, adding that diversity, to her, meant gender, race, and also practice areas and geography in Texas. "Far West Texas—it's really hard to get elected from here. Several people have tried. I really wanted to take the opportunity to represent this part of the state."

There has never been an election contest or challenge in Texas Bar history, although races have come very close in the past, said an email by spokesman Lowell Brown. In 2008, Roland Johnson won election with 49.92% of the vote, compared with 49.27% to Claude Ducloux, he explained.

In an email Sunday, Almaguer requested a recount from Texas Bar president Randy Sorrels and executive director Trey Apffel. He argued that the Texas Bar's policy manual contains a provision that the president-elect must win election by a "majority of all votes cast by members."

"No candidate met that mark," Almaguer wrote. "The policy manual mandates a runoff election."

Low Turnout

Almaguer, director of private bar and government relations at Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, said in an interview that the bar's nominations and elections subcommittee would review his arguments and make a decision.

He said the attorneys who voted for him have been asking questions about the issue of the lack of a majority vote, and he felt they deserved an answer. Almaguer added that he planned to accept whatever interpretation of the bar policy manual that the subcommittee decided upon.

"I'm not going to file anything in court, and I'm not going to challenge anything," he said.

Firth said she doesn't think a runoff election is appropriate.

"I think it does a disservice to the bar, to challenge on that basis," Firth said. "There's no way there is a runoff with the same two candidates."

The coronavirus made for a strange election season for the Texas Bar. As the state closed down in March, both candidates ceased in-person campaigning. Because the bar's election vendor is headquartered in New York City, and its staff could not come to the office, the bar chose to eliminate paper ballots and move to online-only voting, with an extended voting period.

The voter turnout was only 18%, which is the lowest turnout in the past five years. That's a drop of six percentage points compared to the 2019 turnout of 24%.