It took until the wee hours of the morning, but Texas House Dist. 19 Rep. Ellen Troxclair has won the Republican nomination over challenger Kyle Biedermann by 3,500 votes.
Gillespie County's Republican party opted to hand-count its votes, a process that saw ballots still being counted as late as 2:30 a.m. Wednesday morning. But all good things must come to an end, and Biedermann prevailed in Gillespie, but the vote difference could not offset the lead Troxclair had built in the other four counties.
Gillespie went with for the challenger, the former six-year Dist. 73 representative, by a 3,953 to 3,731 margin. But Troxclair took three of the five counties in the district and received a combined 20,571 votes while Biedermann managed only 17,064.
Troxclair, who is running for her second term in the Dist. 19 seat, will face Dwain Handley in November in the heavy Republican stronghold. Handley defeated opponent Zach Vance by about 900 votes for the win.
Travis County was also late, with just 53 percent of its vote counted by 1 a.m. But when Travis went complete, Troxclair had built a 16,840 to 13,111 lead. Gillespie's totals favored the challenger but not by enough to catch the incumbent.
Biedermann also took Kendall County, amassing 5,446 votes to Troxclair's 4,121.
In Kendall County, challenger Jennifer McCall defeated Kendall County Precinct 1 Commissioner Christina Bergmann in the Republican primary, 1,077 to 1,022.
"This campaign has been rooted in the Lord, and I'm just thankful for everyone's hard work, support and prayers," McCall said Tuesday following release of the final vote tally.
"I want to thank my campaign team, including my husband, Andrew .... it really has been a grass-roots campaign, and I'm deeply grateful."
There is no Democratic commission precinct 1 opponent, which means McCall will win in the November general election and be sworn into office Jan. 1, 2025.
McCall, who lost in her previous county commission race, said it was "a return to fundamentals" that pushed her over the top.
"I think its the fundamentals. I think it's all those things; block-walking, and being involved where the voters are, at the Tapatio Ladies Club or the Kendall County Republican Women, and other groups as well," she said.
Early voting tabulation saw Bergmann take a slim 646-641 lead that McCall said caught her a bit by surprise.
"I didn't think it would be that close, one way or the other," she said. "This whole thing has just been given to the Lord, and we have the result we wanted.
"I'm thankful the voters gave me their votes, and I am excited to get to work," she added.
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