By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Val Verde County Republicans who voted in Tuesday’s Republican Party Primary Election selected a slate of nominees for local offices and also cast ballots in state and federal races.
A total of 2,885 Val Verde County voters cast ballots in the Republican Party primary election.
In the race for one of the state’s two U.S. Senate seats, Val Verde County Republicans favored Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who received 1,075 votes, over incumbent U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, who received 999 votes. Neither Cornyn nor Paxton secured a majority of the vote, and the two candidates are headed to a runoff.
Votes for the other U.S. Senate candidates were as follows: John O. Adefope, 58; Sara Canady, 116; Virgil John Bierschwale, 19; Anna Bender, 43; Wesley Hunt, 326; and Gulrez “Gus” Khan, 46.
In the race for the U.S. representative seat for District 23, Val Verde County Republicans favored Brandon Herrera, who received 1,385 votes. Incumbent U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales received 988 votes. Because neither Herrera nor Gonzales secured a majority, the two candidates will face each other in a runoff.
Francisco “Quico” Canseco finished third in the race locally with 163 votes. Ken Barton rounded out the field with 203 votes.
Val Verde County Republicans overwhelmingly supported incumbent Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who received 2,383 votes locally, reflecting Abbott’s statewide performance where he won the Republican nomination outright.
Some local Republicans also cast ballots for candidates challenging Abbott. Those candidates and their vote totals were: R.F. “Bob” Achgill, 17; Stephen Samuelson, 10; Evelyn Brooks, 67; Arturo Espinosa, 71; Pete “Doc” Chambers, 177; Nathaniel Welch, 13; Charles Andrew Crouch, 6; Mark V. Goloby, 9; Kenneth Hyde, 21; and Ronnie Tullos, 10.
Val Verde County Republicans also strongly supported incumbent Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick in the race for Texas lieutenant governor. Patrick received 2,076 votes locally.
Other Republicans in that race and their vote totals were: Esala Wueschner, 55; Perla Munoz Hopkins, 318; and Timothy Mabry, 164.
In the race for Texas attorney general, Val Verde County Republicans favored Chip Roy, who received 1,107 votes locally. Mayes Middleton received 616 votes. Statewide, neither candidate secured the nomination outright, and Roy and Middleton are headed to a runoff.
Two other candidates were also on the ballot. Val Verde County Republicans gave Joan Huffman 553 votes and Aaron Reitz 309 votes.
Val Verde County Republicans selected Marcus Cardenas as their choice for state senator for District 19. Cardenas received 1,048 votes locally. The two other candidates in the race, Adam Ernest Salyer and Robert Marks Jr., received 512 and 684 votes, respectively.
Across District 19, however, Cardenas did not secure a clear victory. He and Marks are headed to a runoff election.
Former Del Rio Mayor Robert Garza remains locked in a too-close-to-call race for the Republican nomination for Texas representative for District 74 with John McLeon. Val Verde County voters gave Garza 1,323 votes and McLeon 1,275 votes.
According to the Texas Tribune’s website Tuesday afternoon, an estimated 98.9 percent of the votes in the race had been counted, but “no projected nominee has been called yet.” The Texas Tribune’s graphic showed Garza leading by 147 votes.
Garza spoke to The 830 Times by phone Tuesday night, saying there was a problem with a voting machine in Eagle Pass, making it necessary for election workers to count some ballots by hand.
Commenting on the close race, Garza said, “From what I can tell, I pulled it off.”
If Garza wins the nomination, he will face incumbent Democrat Eddie Morales Jr. of Eagle Pass, setting up a rematch of the 2020 general election.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com.
