By Anita Miller
Hays County Sheriff Gary Cutler handily defeated his challenger in the Republican Primary Election Tuesday and will face Democrat Alex Villalobos in November’s General Election.
With 39 of 49 precincts reporting, Cutler held a lead of 10,067 (77.88 percent) over challenger David Graham’s 2,859 votes (22.12 percent).
In the Democratic primary, Villalobos held a lead of 12,596 votes (74.30 percent) over challenger Dickey Haverda’s 4,356 votes (25.70 percent).
Returns in Hays County, like much of the state, were late due to a high surge of voting on Election Day.
Neither Cutler or Villalobos returned phone calls from the Hays Free Press seeking comment.
The race for State Representative District 45 was still close and likely headed for a runoff. With 39 precincts in, Republican Carrie Isaac held a slim lead, 6,043 votes (46.11 percent) over challenger Kent “Bud” Wymore, who had 5,656 votes (43.15 percent). Austin Talley was in third place with 1,408 votes (10.74 percent).
Incumbent District 45 State Rep. Democrat Erin Zwiener defeated her opponent by a vote of 12,770 (70.06 percent) to Liliana Posada’s 5,458 (29.94 percent).
“I feel so honored I have the overwhelming support of Democratic voters in District 45, especially with the constant influx of new residents and the high turnout for the presidential race,” Zwiener said. “The decisive win shows that folks in the district know who I am and are proud of the work I’ve done.”
Looking forward, Zwiener, said, “we’re going to keep campaigning the way we always have, reaching out to voters on critical issues like education, access to health care and protecting this beautiful Hill Country home of ours. I’m confident that my values and my record will line up with this district. We won’t stop working until November.”
In the U.S. District 35 race, longtime Democratic incumbent Lloyd Doggett held off challenger Rafael Alcoser III by a vote of 5,834 (74.57 percent) to 1,990 (25.43 percent). Who Doggett will face in November was still a tossup, with Jenny Garcia Sharon maintaining a slim lead over “Guiliermo” William Hayward. With 39 precincts in, Sharon had 38.09 percent compared to 37.86 percent for Hayward. Nick Moutos was in third was 24.05 percent.
Republican Precinct 3 Constable Ray Helm won decidedly over challenger Jessica Deatherage. With 39 of 49 precincts reporting, Helm had 2,530 votes (83.75 percent) compared to Deatherage’s 491 votes (16.25 percent).
In the race for State Board of Education District 5, Hays County resident Rebecca Bell-Metereau was leading with 10,918 votes (64.28 percent) over Leti Bresnahan’s 6,067 votes (35.72 percent).
Democrats chose Millie Thompson for Judge of Hays County Court-at-law No. 3 with 13,235 votes (77.68 percent) compared to Tony Fusco’s 3,803 votes (22.32 percent).
In the race for party chairs, it was nearly a dead heat between Donna Haschke who, with 39 precincts in, had 6,625 votes (40.10 percent) to Angela “Tia Angie” Villescaz’s 6,717 votes (40.66 percent). Trevor Newman had 3,139 votes (19.24 percent).
On the Republican side, Bob Parks held a lead in the race for county chair with 6,913 votes (60.73 percent) compared to 4,471 votes (39.27 percent) for Wesley Doss.
