Local elections decided, presidency up for grabs

By Wesley Gardner
LPR Editor

While the U.S. presidential election was too close to call by Wednesday morning, the remaining federal, state and local elections have been decided, according to unofficial election results.
Locally, Republican Mike Lane will be Caldwell County’s new sheriff after defeating Democratic challenger Hector Rangel 7,908 votes to 6,609.
Republican Juanita Allen defeated Sandy Riojas 8,063-6,398 for the Caldwell County District Clerk position.
Democratic incumbent Darla Law held off Republican challenger Debbie Cortez Sanders for the Caldwell County Tax Assessor-Collector position with 7,580 votes to 6,926.
Republican incumbent B.J. Westmoreland held on to his seat as precinct 1 county commissioner, defeating Democratic challenger James Bertram 2,395 votes to 1,726.
Republican incumbent Precinct 3 Commissioner Edward “Ed” Theriot ran unopposed, so he automatically retained his position.
In Lockhart, incumbent Mayor Lew White held off his opponents to win the race, defeating the closest challenger, John Castillo, by more than 1,000 votes. District 3 Councilmember Kara McGregor and District 4 Councilmember Jeffry Michelson each ran unopposed, thus retaining their seats.
In Martindale, Mike McClabb defeated Kimberly Smith 232 votes to 225 for the place 4 councilmember position. Sam Houston Clinton defeated Ross Purcell 234 votes to 211 for the place 5 councilmember position.
Place 1 Councilmember Sonja Villalobos and Place 3 Councilmember Lisa Shell-Allen each ran unopposed.
Separately, a proposition that would have called for the disannexation of Butterfly Meadows and a portion of Hopson Ranch Estates in Martindale was defeated, with 195 voting for the proposition and 295 voting against it.

CJ Watts won the lone contested race in Luling 350 votes to 149 over Alton Opiela for councilmember ward 5.
For the Lockhart school district Board of Trustees, Dr. Barbara Sanchez will serve for District 1 after winning the seat with 68 percent of the votes over Lisa Goerlitz.
For District 2, Rene Rayos won the contest with 51 percent of the votes over Laurie Lay.
Sam Lockhart won the District 3 race with 55 percent of the vote over Nick Metzler.
Warren Burnett ran unopposed for the District 4 seat, securing his second term as trustee.
Federally, as of press time, Republican incumbent Sen. John Cornyn held onto his seat against democratic challenger M.J. Hegar by a 53.7 percent to 43.7 percent margin.
Incumbent Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-35) held off Republican challenger Jenny Garcia Sharon, winning 65.3 percent of the vote to her 30 percent.
Freshman U.S. Rep. Michael Cloud (R-27) retained his seat, winning 63.1 percent of the votes against democratic challenger Ricardo De La Fuente, who took in 34.9 percent.
At the state level, incumbent Democratic Sen. Judith Zaffirini defeated Republican challenger Frank Pomeroy 57 to 43 percent.
Incumbent Rep. John Cyrier (R-17) fended off Democratic challenger Madeline Eden by a margin of 64 to 36 percent.
Republican James Wright took in 53 percent of the votes to defeat Democratic challenger Chrysta Casteneda for a railroad commissioner seat.
Democratic incumbent Rebecca Bell-Metereau won a tight race against Republican challenger Lani Popp 49 percent to 47 percent.