Voting is over, but election remains unsettled

By LPR Staff
Editor/POST-REGISTER

The hotly-contested race for the Democratic Party nomination for Caldwell County Judge yielded one of the only two runoff elections voters will be asked to decide next month.

The race, which started with five competitors, has now been pared down to a showdown between experienced Commissioner Morris Alexander, and curr

ent Lockhart mayor James “Jimmy” Bertram.

Alexander won the plurality in last week”s primary election, garnering a total of 763 votes to Bertram”s 667. However, polling results showed sluggish voter turnout during the primary – only 2,723 of Caldwell County”s 20,157 voters participated in the Democratic Party primary.

The runoff, which will be held Tuesday, April 13, 2010, will determine which candidate will face Republican Party nominee Tom Bonn in November”s general election.

Early voting for the runoff is scheduled to begin on Monday, April 5. Any voter who did not vote in the Republican Party primary election is eligible to vote in the runoff.

One race on the Republican side of the aisle also remains unsettled, to date.

According to Caldwell County Tax Assessor-Collector Mary Vicky Gonzales, who is also the county”s election official, there has been talk that Grady Keenan, who was edged by two votes by Grant Rostig as the two battle for the Republican Party nomination for Caldwell County Commissioner – Precinct Four, may ask for a recount.

Gonzales said on Wednesday morning that no official request for a recount has been made, but that no official request could be made until after the votes are canvassed, which she expects to happen on Thursday. The winner of the tight race will face seated County Commissioner Joe Roland in November.

Caldwell County Republican voters will also have the opportunity to participate in a runoff for Justice, Place 3, on the Texas Supreme Court. The race, originally a six-way melee, has been narrowed down to two candidates, former Representative Rick Green, and Fort Worth District Judge Debra Lehrmann.

Again, under the rules of Primary elections, only those who did not vote in the opposing party”s primary election may vote in the runoff.