Hoppy Haden takes race for county judge w/results

There were 11,494 ballots cast in Caldwell County in the 2018 midterm election, which saw its highest turnout in years.
In a key county race, Republican Hoppy Haden defeated Democrat challenger Alfredo Munoz for County Judge with 54.6 percent of the vote in unofficial vote totals.
Haden received 6,172 votes while Munoz picked up 5,130.
In the race for state representiative, District 17, Republican John Cyrier defeated Democrat Michelle Ryan with 56.97 percent of the vote. Ryan received 4,861 total votes.
In county commissioner races, Republican B.J. Westmoreland defeated Ida Reyna-Magallanez for Precinct 1, receiving 58 percent of the vote.
Democrat Joe Roland won Precinct 4 with 63 percent of the vote, defeating Republican challenger Jerry West.
The race in Precinct 2 was close with Republican Barbara Shelton receiving 52 percent of the vote while Democrat Eddie Moses received 48.
Republican Tina Morgan Freeman defeated Democrat Sandy Riojas for Caldwell County District Clerk with 58 percent of the vote to Riojas’ 41 percent.
Running unopposed, Democrat Teresa Rodriguez was elected county clerk and received 86 percent of the vote. There were 1,154 write-in votes in this race.
The race for County Treasurer was also close. Angela Mueth Rawlinson, a Republican, received 50.8 percent of the vote while Democratic challenger Lori Rangel received 49.2 percent. Less than 200 votes separated the two candidates.
In the four races for Justice of the peace, Republican Matt Kiely edged out Democrat challenger Rhoda Chavira in Precinct 1 with 48.2 percent of the vote.
Shanna Conley, a Republican, won the race in Precinct 2 by a landslide with 74 percent of the vote. Democrat challenger Joe Tetley received 788 votes to Conley’s 2,233.
Less than 50 votes separated the candidates in Precinct 3. Democrat Anita DeLeon received 51 percent of the vote while her challenger, Republican Ben Brady, received 49 percent of the vote with 1,054 votes.
In Precinct 4, Democrat Raymond De Leon picked up 60 percent of the vote to defeat Republican Beverly West, who received 1,093 votes.
In one of the most-watched state races across the country, incumbent Republican Ted Cruz defeated Democrat Beto O’Rourke for Texas’ senate seat with 50.9 percent of the vote.
While the outcome was expected, 4,016,141 voters chose the Democrat in a race that Cruz has dominated in the past.
Cruz got 54 percent of county votes while O’Rourke had 46 percent, which was the trend across rural counties in Texas.
In House of Representative races, incumbent Michael Cloud kept his seat in the House of Representatives. The Republican picked up 2,727 votes in Caldwell County for the District 27 seat.
Democrat Lloyd Doggett kept his seat in the newly Democratic controlled House of Representatives. Doggett received 3,162 votes in Caldwell County to Republican Challenger David Smalling’s 2,051.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott was re-elected along with Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick and Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Abbott received 6,706 votes in Caldwell County while his challenger, Democrat Lupe Valdez, received 4,496 votes.
In another race of interest, the City of Martindale voted against Proposition 1, which would have allowed Hopson Ranch and Butterfly Meadows subdivisions to de-annex from the city.

Incumbents win three at-large LISD trustee seats
Incubments Steve Johnson, Michael Wright and Tom Guyton won the three at-large seats on the Lockhart Independent School District Board of Trustees.
Johnson received 3,917 votes while Wright received 3,608 votes and Guyton had 3,048 total votes. There were 2,167 votes cast for write-in candidates.
In other races, Barbara Mink won Place 7 ACC board of Trustees and Sarah Mills won Place 8 with 51 votes. ­­­­­Lora Weber won Place 9 with 73 votes.