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 100 percent of precincts reporting, Cutler had 11,304 (77.16 percent) over challenger David Graham’s 3,347 votes (22.84 percent).
In the Democratic primary, Villalobos won with 15,319 votes (74.32 percent) over challenger Dickey Haverda’s 5,294 votes (25.68 percent).
Returns in Hays County, like much of the state, were late due to a surge of voting on Election Day. Final results were posted on the county website at 12:29 a.m. Wednesday.
Neither Cutler nor Villalobos returned phone calls from the Hays Free Press seeking comment.
Republican State Rep., District 45 Race
The Republican primary for State Representative District 45 was close all night and will go to a runoff between Carrie Isaac and Kent “Bud” Wymore. Isaac held the lead with 6,995 votes (46.89 percent), while Wymore had 6,301 votes (42.23 percent). Austin Talley came in with 1,623 votes (10.88 percent).
Isaac and Wymore could not be reached for comment.
Democratic State Rep., District 45 Race
On the Democratic side incumbent District 45 State Rep. Democrat Erin Zwiener defeated her opponent by a vote of 15,300 (68.90 percent) to Liliana Posada’s 6,906 (31.10 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.”
Democratic U.S. District 35 RACE
In the U.S. District 35 race, longtime Democratic incumbent Lloyd Doggett held off challenger Rafael Alcoser III by a statewide vote of 47,003 (72.86 percent) to 17,512 (27.14 percent). In Hays County, Doggett got 73.07 percent of the vote compared to Alcoser’s 26.93 percent.
Republican U.S. District 35 Race
Who Doggett will face in November will be the winner of a runoff between Jenny Garcia Sharon, who had 6,730 votes statewide (37.09 percent) and “Guillermo” William Hayward, who finished with 6,226 (34.31 percent). Nick Moutos came in third with 5,188 votes (28.59 percent).
Republican Precinct 3 Constable Race
Republican Precinct 3 Constable Ray Helm won decidedly over challenger Jessica Deatherage. Helm pulled in 2,543 votes (83.65 percent) compared to challenger Deatherage’s 497 votes (16.35 percent).
Democratic State Board of Education, District 5 Race
In the race for State Board of Education District 5, Hays County resident Rebecca Bell-Metereau won the Democratic primary with 13,864 votes over Leti Bresnahan’s 7,718 votes. In Hays County, Bell-Metereau won 63.7 percent of the vote over Bresnahan’s 36.3 percent.
Republican State Board of Education, District 5 Race
Republicans are headed for runoffs in the race for State Board of Education District 5. The face-off will be between Robert Morrow, who had 54,387 votes (40.12 percent) and Lani Popp had 45.921 (33.88 percent). Inga Cotton trailed with 35.238 votes (26 percent).
Democratic County County Court-at-Law #3 Judge Race
Hays County Democrats chose Millie Thompson for Judge of Hays County Court-at-law No. 3 with 16,180 votes (77.87 percent) compared to Tony Fusco’s 4,599 votes (22.13 percent).
Hays County Democratic Party Chair Race
The race for Hays County Democratic Party Chair will be decided in a runoff between Angela “Tia Angie” Villescaz, who had 8,355 votes (41.55 percent) compared to Donna Haschke’s 7,903 votes (39.36 percent). Trevor Newman had 3,833 votes 19.09 percent).
Hays County Republican Party Chair Race
Bob Parks will be the new Hays County Republican Party Chair, coming in with 7,762 votes (60.24 percent) over Wesley Doss’ 5,124 votes (39.76 percent).
Runoffs in both parties will be held Saturday, May 26.
Resolutions
Hays County Democrats and Republicans approved all the resolutions their party put on the ballot.
Democratic Presidential Race
Former Vice President Joe Biden won the Texas Democratic Primary for President with 535,952 votes (32.41 percent). Sen. Bernie Sanders captured 491,468 votes (29.72 percent) statewide. In Hays County, however, Sanders came out on top with 38.72 percent of votes to Biden’s 27.85 percent.
