Bastrop, Tx–GOP voters swamped polling places in Bastrop County today in party primary elections to select nominees for local, state and federal offices, delaying the final tally to name winners, losers and runoff hopefuls.
Democratic ballots were fully counted and winners determined by about 10:30 p.m., with party voters favoring the two incumbents who had primary opponents.
Republican poll watchers were still waiting for the final ballots to be counted at 11 p.m. Some GOP polling places ran out of printed ballots and voters were forced to fill out makeshift ballots which were then transferred to a form which could be counted by an optical scanner, officials said.
Incumbent GOP County Commissioner Clara Beckett in Pct. 2 seemed headed to an easy renomination over challenger Adam Meuth. With some votes still out, Beckett held a 1047 to 431 vote lead.
The race was much closer between Republican Pct. 4 Commissioner candidates seeking to challenge Democrat Lee Dildy in the November general election. David “Rocky” Palmquist held a narrow 342 to 321 lead over rival Ron Jay, with results from one voting box still to be reported. The winner will face the veteran Democrat in November.
Dildy overcame a challenge from Michael Flowers for the Democratic nomination, 502 to 444, with all ballots counted.
In the contest which has drawn the most candidate interest this year–for Pct. 1 justice of the Peace–Democratic incumbent Bill Weddle turned back challenger Dickie Henderson, 503 to 325.
On the Republican side in Pct. 1, Justice of the Peace hopeful Donna VanGilder apparently won a four-way race without a runoff. With one voting box still to be reported, Van Gilder had 708 votes (54.7 percent) with a large lead over other GOP candidates including Vann Pressley with 279, J.W. Snell with 221 and Sue Fruge with 84.
Tags: party primary elections