Filing closes for November elections

By LPR Staff

Editor/POST-REGISTER

As the area’s political climate begins to heat up, the fields have been finalized for the Nov. 4, 2014 General Election. In addition to the Federal, state and countywide races that will appear on the ballot in November, both the City of Lockhart and the Lockhart Independent School District will be h

olding elections to fill positions within local leadership.

As determined during the 2010 redistricting process, the Lockhart ISD Board of Trustees will have the three at-large seats up for election in 2014. Incumbents Juan Alvarez, Jr., and Tom Guyton will both seek re-election, while the third at-large trustee, Board President Rick Womble, has opted not to seek another term.

Juarez is seeking a third term and Guyton, a second. However, they will face heavy competition in a field that includes Oscar Garcia, Steve Johnson, Michael Wright and Bridgette Hayter De La Cruz.

Because of the way voting is structured for the LISD at-large seats, each voter may cast as many as three votes.

For Lockhart ISD, this election is critical, as the Trustees seated this November will largely be responsible for making the decisions on the construction and improvements that will be funded by the $63.9 million bond package approved by the voters in May.

The City of Lockhart may also see changes after the November election, when two council seat and the mayor’s chair will be up for grabs.

Incumbent Mayor Lew White will square off with Homer “Papa” Shaw for the seat at the head of the council table. The pair have been toe-to-toe before, in the 2011 Mayoral election when White won his seat with 76.12 percent of the vote in a four-way race, with Shaw coming in a distant second with 15.81 percent.

District 3 Councilmember Benny Hilburn will return to the dais as the only candidate to file for election in his District. Hilburn initially earned his seat in 2013 when he was the only candidate to file for a special election to fill the seat after it was vacated by the retirement of incumbent councilmember Richard “Dick” Weiland.

The District 4 seat vacated by Richard Banks’s resignation this summer has drawn the attention of three potential candidates: Janet Tiemann, Jeffry Michelson and Connie Amaya. All three are first-time contenders in the political arena.

Voters may begin applying for ballots by mail in the upcoming Nov. 4, 2014, election, as early as Sept. 5, 2014. The last day to register to vote in the election will be Monday, Oct. 6, and early voting will open on Monday, Oct. 12.

Watch future editions of the Post-Register for sample ballots, campaign spending reports, and more information on the Nov. 4, 2014, General and Joint Elections.