by ANDY SEVILLA
After being outspent and outvoted, Amy Proctor has now stepped up her financial efforts for election to the Buda City Council, besting Wiley Hopkins by $200 in the runoff race for the vacant Place 2 seat.
According to their March 1 campaign finance reports, Proctor spent $764.28, from Jan. 27 through Feb. 28, in her bid for the council seat, while Hopkins’ campaign dished out $561.73, between Jan. 16 and Feb. 27, as they near the finish line.
Buda voters will decide March 9 which of the two candidates will take a seat on the dais, after a winner failed to surface in the Jan. 26 special election that pitted a former council member against two political newcomers.
Former 12-year Buda City council member Cathy Chilcote was voted out of office in November, but she was not done fighting for a second chance as a municipal representative, as she entered the race against Proctor and Wiley.
Todd Ruge left his Place 2 seat up for grabs after winning election to the mayor’s chair Dec 8, after the seat became vacant because then-Mayor Sarah Mangham defected from city government due to health reasons.
A seasoned political candidate, Chilcote suffered a second blow after Jan. 26 when Buda voters refused her representation on the dais, only bestowing her with 24 percent of that vote.
Hopkins narrowly missed clenching the Place 2 spot on the council Jan. 26 as he only garnered 48 percent of the vote. Proctor secured her position in the runoff race, after edging out Chilcote with 28 percent of the vote.
For the Jan. 26 election, Hopkins outspent other candidates, expending $1326.07 in campaign funds for posters, yard signs and flyers, according to finance reports. Proctor only spent $639.14 in that race, and Chilcote spent $376.23.
This time around, Proctor has spent $202.55 more than Hopkins leading up to the March 9 runoff election.
Campaign finance records show that Hopkins took in $40 in political contributions for the March report, and Proctor, once again, reported no financial contributions to her campaign.
