Despite losing the vote in Kendall County, House Rep. Ellen Troxclair prevailed in her bid for the Dist. 19 Republican nomination Tuesday.
Kendall County Commission challenger Jennifer McCall surged back from a slim early voting deficit to post her victory.
Troxclair, who said she yielded name recognition in the county to her opponent Kyle Biedermann, outpolled her opponent 20,763 to 17,162 in Dist. 19 for the win, with Manny Campos far behind in third with 1,942 votes.
But in Kendall County, Biedermann won by a double-digit percentage, 54-41%. Biedermann, Texas House Dist. 73 representative from 2017-2023, received 5,446 county votes to Troxclair’s 4,121.
Troxclair said financing (which she termed “dark money”) by a Midland billionaire boosted Biedermann’s campaign and impacted the race. She called it a concerted effort “to manipulate and confuse voters about my record.”
As a result, she said she needs to “get the word out” about her work and stances on key issues.
“I need to do a better job of communicating to residents about how county leaders and I are working together to protect and preserve the Hill Country,” Troxclair said. “I am eager to continue building those relationships and that trust.” She said her track record of legislative follow-through is one reason why voters backed her this cycle.
“I consistently show up for the people and principles I represent in an honest and effective way,” she said, “and the trust I have subsequently earned from constituents and community leaders ultimately shined through.
“My record of following through on all of my campaign promises — from border security to saving women’s sports to cutting property taxes - earned the confidence of voters who want action, not just rhetoric,” she added.
After a good night’s sleep and spending some time with family and friends, Troxclair said the issues facing the state will be on her docket.
“It was a non-stop campaign, but the issues that our state is facing persist,” she said.
“We have to protect our food and water supply, especially from being bought by hostile foreign nations, ensure every child has access to an excellent education, raise teacher pay and support our public schools, and put a stop to the human and drug trafficking across our border,” she added.
McCall fell behind Kendall County Precinct 1 Commissioner Christina Bergmann in early voting by the slimmest of margins, 646-641. But she pulled it out, topping Bergmann 436-376 with Tuesday voters to take the win, 1,077 to 1,022 (51.3-48.7%) “I think it’s 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,” McCall said.
Early voting tabulation saw Bergmann take a slim lead that McCall said caught her a bit by surprise.
“I didn’t think it would be that close, one way or the other,” McCall 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.
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.
Overall, 11,780 of Kendall County’s 37,736 registered voters — 31.2% — cast ballots, 10,699 Republicans and 1,081 Democrats.
Those numbers will increase dramatically in November, when the presidential and key congressional races are on the ballot.
In November 2020, 78.6% of Kendall County residents cast ballots when Joe Biden defeated Doanld Trump for the presidency. Kendall went 75% for Trump in that election.
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