Elgin incumbents stay seated

Bastrop County residents took to the polls this past weekend for the May 4 General Election, determining who fills the important seats on city councils and deciding the fate of massive school bonds.

Two city councilmember positions were contested in Elgin, both won by the current seat holders. Al Rodriguez narrowly beat out Taylor Christian for Ward 3 by only seven votes, 52% of the total, and Sue Prinz Brasher took it over Stephanie Lippke with 57%.

For the Elgin Independent School District, Beth Walterscheidt and Pete Bega decidedly earned trustee spots for District 3 and 6, respectively, each with about 70% of the ballots.

Elgin ISD’s two propositions were both passed, with 67% of voters for the $375 million 2024 bond package.

Kerry Fossler came out ahead in the only contested race for a seat on Bastrop’s city council, claiming the Councilmember Place 4 position over Jimmy Crouch with 53% of local votes.

The Trustee Place 1 vote for Bastrop Independent School District went to Carol Armstrong, at 61% over Rick Rivera.

In the Bastrop Appraisal District, Michelle Gaertner had the only decisive victory for Board of Directors Place 3, rallying 63% of voters. For Place 1 and 2, Paul Johnson and John Sabol each etched out a win by less than 1%, only 63 and 17 votes ahead of their counterparts.

Smithville’s leader, Sharon Foerster, will retain her mayoral seat, beating out Tom Etheredge by 47 votes, or 53%. Mitchell Jameson took the Councilmember Place 4 position, 21 points ahead of Dane Garrison, and Cathy Meek rose over Brandon Dunham with 147 votes, 61%.

Bryan Jones secured Smithville Independent School District’s contested Trustee Place 3 race over Casey Hanchey by about 52% of the votes.

McDade Independent School District had the only other proposition on the ballot, a $4 million bond for additional school building sites that 51% of voters agreed to, 97 of the total 190.

The Bastrop Municipal Utility District race ended with Will Tullis and Doug Granger victorious. Tullis had 34% of the votes, while Granger had 32% of the votes over competitors Steve Adamcik, 18% and Brian Thorton, 15%.

County wide, a total of 5,333 ballots were cast, including early voting and the 13 reported voting centers – about 9% of registered voters chose to exercise their rights this election.