Sheriff-Elect Gary Cutler greets a supporter at his victory party in Driftwood shortly after early returns left little doubt that he would win against Sheriff Tommy Ratliff. (Photo by Jennifer Biundo)
by BRAD ROLLINS and KAY RICHTER
In one of the most heated and messy races of the season, Republican nominee Gary Cutler was elected Hays County Sheriff, replacing former Texas Ranger Tommy Ratliff.
Cutler, who will be the third sheriff in two years, said his first priorities will be establishing continuity for a law enforcement agency that has been in upheaval since Allen Bridges died in December 2008, weeks before he was to be sworn to his full term.
The Commissioners Court appointed Ratliff to fill the vacancy until the Nov. 2 special election.
“We’ve got to put some stability to the sheriff’s office,” Cutler said, adding that his impression is that employee morale has suffered because of uncertainty. “From the information I’m getting, it is low. I want to get the morale up.”
Cutler drew 21,569 votes, or 55.7 percent, to Ratliff’s 17,137 votes, or 44.3 percent – a margin similar to that in all the county’s matchups this year.
“We don’t have a problem looking ourselves in the mirror at the fact that we ran a very professional race,” Ratliff said. “...I am a professional police officer and have been for 35 years and we are going to help them in the transition. If they need anything else, we will be glad to help them.”
Ratliff was criticized on a number of fronts ranging from his handling of facility problems at the jail to the squelched contract with the city of Buda to provide police services. But the race was turned on its head by a charge leveled by a supporter of his opponent that Ratliff had broken his ex-wife’s shoulder in 1988, an allegation that Ratliff denied. Cutler said he had nothing to do with the charge being raised.
“It’s a sad thing whenever people have to resort to that type of campaign, to feel like they have to do that to win. We could have done that but we decided that we were not going to do that. We were going to be professionals and stick to issues and be a very straight forward campaign,” Ratliff said.
