held on March 4. Douglas A. "Doug" Carlile (born c. 1963) polled the remaining 6,393 Republican ballots (45.1 percent). Hinojosa did not seek an eleventh term in the House in 2016. Democrats Vicente Gonzalez and Juan "Sonny" Palacios, Jr., met in the May 24 runoff election to select a successor nominee. Three Republicans contested the seat in the primary election. Tim Westley, a pastor of Shepherd's Vineyard Christian Church in San Antonio who carried the backing of the Tea Party movement, led the field with 13,153 votes (45.3 percent). He faced a runoff on May 24 with Ruben O. Villarreal, who received 9,131 votes (31.5 percent); the third-place candidate, Xavier Salinas, drew a critical 6,730 votes (23.2 percent). Villarreal is the mayor of Rio Grande City, a non-partisan position, in heavily Democratic Starr County. Three candidates, Democrat Vicente Gonzalez, Republican Tim Westley and Green Vanessa Tijerina, competed in the November 8, 2016, general election for the right to succeed Hinojosa. In 2016 it was revealed he was one of 9 members of Congress who took a trip secretly funded by the government of Azerbaijan and had to turn over gifts the country gave him to the House Clerk after an ethics investigation. Political positions Hinojosa has been called a "hard-core liberal" and a "rank-and-file Democrat". The 'That's My Congress' website has given Hinojosa a "Liberal Action Score" of 37/100 and a "Conservative Action Score" of 16/100 for his votes in the 112th Congress. During the 111th Congress, Hinojosa voted with his party 99 percent of the time. He voted to extend the Patriot Act and supported the 2011 budget compromise. He voted for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), the American Clean Energy and Security Act, otherwise known as "Cap and Trade", and the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Hinojosa has emphasized assisting minorities and low-income Americans gain access to higher education. He has been especially active in supporting water-conservation projects along the Mexican border, and in replacing federal subsidies for student loans with direct government loans. Hinojosa and George Miller were responsible for constructing the 2008 Higher Education Opportunity Act, which increased the maximum Pell Grants available to low-income students and authorized additional funding for minority-serving schools. He co-sponsored a 2010 bill for enhanced border security, but has opposed the construction of a wall along the border. He has also been a very strong supporter of free-trade agreements,