Elections: amendments pass, runoff voting approaches

Texas voters overwhelmingly voted in favor of two propositions to amend the state constitution, both of which involved property tax relief.

Numbers from the Texas Secretary of State’s office say 87 percent of voters statewide voted in favor of Proposition One and 85 percent voted in favor of Proposition 2.

Unofficial election results from the Bandera County Elections office report 1,445 voters turned out for the May 7 election. That number accounts for 8.23 percent of registered voters.

Bandera County voters also voted substantially in favor of the two amendments: 92.4 percent for Proposition One and 93.05 for Proposition Two.

Voters will take to the polls again later this month for runoffs stemming from March’s Primary election.

Locally, the Republican ticket features a runoff between Pete Flores and Raul Reyes for State Senator for District 24, the seat for which was vacated by Dawn Buckingham when she left that office to run for land commissioner.

Buckingham is in a runoff against Tim Wesley for Land Commissioner. Other Republican statewide runoffs on the ballot this month are Attorney General (George P. Bush vs. Ken Paxton) and Railroad Commissioner (Wayne Christian vs. Sarah Stogner).

Certain Bandera County precincts will also be electing new chairs this month.

Kenneth P. Denney and Patricia Miller are running for Precinct 102 Chair.

Brandi Conover and Cheri Krieg and running for Precinct 203 Chair.

Darcy Hasty and Joe Kitzman are running for Precinct 305 Chair.

Cammie Burger Morgan and Rene Leith are running for Precinct 306 Chair.

Elisa Greene and Bob Haueter are running for Precinct 407 Chair.

Laura Briscoe (Precinct 101), Deanna Skoglund (Precinct 408), Kevin Holdsworth (Precinct 409) and Rebecca Gring (Precinct 410) will run unopposed for Precinct Chairs.

On the Democrat ticket, Claudia Andreana Zapata and Ricardo Villarreal are competing in a runoff. The winner of that race will go against Chip Roy in November for United States Representative for District 21.

In another local runoff, Laura Marquez and Melissa N Ortega are competing in a runoff for District 1 of the State Board of Education.

Statewide Democratic runoffs abound, with races for Lieutenant Governor, Land Commissioner, Comptroller and Attorney General on the ticket.

In person early voting for the May 24 primary runoff will take place at the Ray Mauer Annex in Bandera, the Lakehills Library and the Medina Annex starting Monday, May 16, and conclude Friday, May 20. Hours are 7:30 to 5:30 every day except Tuesday, when extended hours are 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.