AREA ELECTION RESULTS: LA GRANGE ISD BOND FAILS BY LARGE MARGIN, NEW MAYOR IN CALDWELL, MOST GIDDINGS CHARTER AMENDMENTS PASS
Residents in cities and school districts in the region participated in a wide slate of elections on Saturday, from school bond propositions, to city charter amendments, to city council and school board races.
LA GRANGE
Voters in La Grange ISD overwhelmingly rejected a $90 million bond proposal, by a margin of 332 votes in favor to 1,992 votes against. The bond was for the purpose of funding renovations, additions and other projects at the elementary, middle and high school campuses, as well as districtwide facility improvements and new school buses.
ROUND TOP
Two alderman seats were up for election in the Town of Round Top, with three candidates in the running. Brooke Michie won a seat on the council with 26 votes, while incumbent Lou Ann Phillips retained her position with 25. Third place was David Barr with 21. Mayor Judith Vincent received 30 votes in an unopposed bid for re-election.
GIDDINGS
For the Giddings City Council, councilmember Linda Pruitt received 245 votes in an uncontested race to fill the seat of mayor, with current mayor Joel Lopez not seeking another term. Two council seats were up for election, and they will be filled by incumbent Mark Muniz, who received the most votes of the four candidates at 235, and John Dowell, who received 203 votes. Charlie Brown finished with 128 votes, and Miranda Droemer Hilderbrand ended with 63.
Citywide, residents passed 10 of the 11 charter amendment propositions. Proposition A, the lone amendment that did not pass -- with 152 votes of approval and 170 no votes – would have removed the requirement for city officers to be at least 21 years of age and clarified the residency requirement.
Giddings ISD’s school board election had five candidates running for two seats, and the election will bring one new member to the board. Whitney Keilberg attained the most votes at 382, followed by incumbent Jason Locke at 328. The second incumbent, Roy Kruemcke Jr., came in third with 266, while Lori Melcher was fourth with 124 and Natalie Mendoza was fifth with 92.
CALDWELL
The City of Caldwell will have a new mayor, following the decision by Janice Easter to not run for another term. John Rychlik defeated Brad Oliver for the seat, 399 – 174. On the city council, challenger Thomas Trnka won the three-way race to fill two alderman seats with 438 votes. Incumbent Lee Glidewell secured the other seat with 238 votes, while fellow incumbent Jessie Enrique Jr. received 188 votes.
The Caldwell ISD Board of Trustees will keep its current make-up, as incumbents Pam Evans and William Foster won re-election to the two available seats with 525 votes and 464 votes, respectively. Challenger Dusty Strange tallied 237 votes.
SOMERVILLE
The City of Somerville had three open alderman seats, and the election will result in a new representative. Cecily Young led all four candidates with 75 votes and will join Jeff Schoppe and Laura Hoover, who won re-election with 61 votes and 49 votes. The third incumbent, Carmen Stallings, came in fourth with 41 votes.
Somerville ISD’s two school board incumbents won new terms, with Keith Howe leading the way with 133 votes and Kim Casanova coming in second with 106. The two challengers, Sandy Thompson and Brian Healy, received 48 votes and 24 votes.
SNOOK
The Snook City Council will see two new faces after councilmembers Matt Collins and John Pollock opted not to run for re-election. Of the seven candidates in the race for three seats, Clarence Junek came in first with 93 votes. Incumbent Faustina Vega won re-election with a second-place finish of 50 votes, and Brad Hays will fill the final seat after receiving 44 votes. After that came Kerrigan Bomnskie with 28 votes, Charles Dunlap with 22, MandieLee Demke with 20 and Ryan Taylor with 16.
The Snook ISD Board of Trustees will also have two new members. Of the four candidates, which only included one incumbent after Adam Janac chose not to seek another term, Natalee See-Kovar came in first with 147 votes, and Holly Giesenschlag followed with 126 votes. Incumbent Joey Withem fell four votes shy with 122, and Lauren Williams finished with 61 votes.
NAVASOTA
The Navasota City Council position of Grant Holt, who did not run for re-election, will be filled by Dia Copeland after she attained 121 votes. Lisa Wells was second with 88, and Patrick Ross was third with 16.
HEMPSTEAD
The Hempstead City Council will have a pair of new members. Karon Neal unseated incumbent Rooster Smith with 333 votes to Smith’s 162. Mildred Jefferson defeated Luther Jones 318 – 149 to fill the position of Nora Hodges.
The Hempstead School Board election saw Connie Wawarofsky win re-election to her seat with 332 votes, with Marvin Hood coming in second with 160 votes and Maria Orostieta finishing third with 136. The seat of Hoveta Godines, who did not seek another term, will be filled by Sharon Thibodeaux after she received 338 votes. Rick Dempsey was second with 231 votes, Diana Perez was third with 63, and Tony Cobb was fourth with 7.
SEALY
The Sealy City Council had one contested position being voted on, as Mayor Carolyn Bilski was unopposed for re-election. The seat of Dee Anne Lerma, who hit her term limit, will be filled by Robert “Bobby” Necker, who led the group of three candidates with 250 votes. Chrissy Suzanne McGee tallied 81 votes, and Geoffrey Hyatt finished with 9.