Staff Report
Finalized local election results following the March 1 primary are in, but some candidates are still in the running and will be on the November ballot.
Pct. 4 County Commissioner Walt Smith remains seated after running unopposed. Other candidates running unopposed included Maggie Hernandez Moreno (D) who took the Justice of the Peace Pct 1 seat, while Andrew Cable (R) and John Burns (R) took Justice of the Peace Pct. 3 and 4 seats, respectively. Incumbent JP Pct. 2 Beth Smith (D) beat out Amaya Cuellar (D) by around 750 votes.
With nearly 6,000 votes, the Hays County Democratic Party Chair went to Briana “Bri” Castillo, replacing incumbent Mark Trahan, who received around 4,100 votes. Hays County Republican Party Chair Bob Parks remains seated after beating Laura Nunn by around 1,700 votes.
Facing off during the Nov. 8 general election will be Kelly Higgins (D) and David Puryear (R) for District Attorney, Ruben Becerra (D; incumbent) and Mark Jones (R; current Pct. 2 County Commissioner) for County Judge and Sandra Bryant (D) and Karen Marshall (R) for JP Pct. 5. Michelle Gutierrez Cohen (D) and Linda Aguilar Hawkins (D) will enter into a runoff election on May 24 for Pct. 2 County Commissioner; the winner will then face Mike Gonzalez (R) in November.
