Saturday's Pasadena election to be monitored by Justice Department

PASADENA, Texas – One of seven candidates -- David Flores, Gloria Gallegos, John Moon, Gilbert Pena, Robert Talton, Pat Van Houte or Jeff Wagner -- will be the next mayor of Pasadena.

Whomever the voters choose will be tasked with handling the fallout of racial discord after a federal judge struck down the city’s 2013 redistricting plan as discriminatory against Hispanics.

In January, a federal judge determined the city’s new voting maps diluted Latino power at the polls.

Tensions have been brewing ever since then and recently boiled over at a contentious City Council meeting between outgoing Mayor Johnny Isbell, who is white, and Councilman Cody Ray Wheeler, who is Hispanic.

Saturday’s pivotal election, the first since the federal judge’s ruling, will be monitored by the U.S. Justice Department to make sure things run smoothly.

The results could lead the way toward a shift in the balance of power at Pasadena City Hall.

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