By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Rancher Kerr Wardlaw has defeated gym owner Enrique Treviño Jr. to win the runoff for the Democratic Party Primary Election to become the nominee for the office of Val Verde County Commissioner Pct. 1.
Wardlaw will now face the Republican Party nominee for the seat, Alfinio “Al” Flores, the owner of an auto salvage company, in the November General Election.
According to unofficial election results announced Tuesday by County Clerk Teresa Esther Chapoy, Wardlaw received a total of 310 votes, with Treviño receiving a total of 239 votes, a difference of 75 votes.
Flores and Wardlaw are both political newcomers, though Wardlaw has participated in past county elections, campaigning for his father, incumbent County Commissioner Pct. 1 Martin Wardlaw. Martin Wardlaw announced in 2023 he would not seek re-election to commissioners court.
After the final results of the contest were announced, Wardlaw and Treviño shook hands and conversed briefly.
Wardlaw spoke to The 830 Times about the runoff victory.
“I’m very pleased with the voter turnout. It was higher than what I thought it was going to be because I canvassed the entire precinct two times entirely and some places more than two times,” Wardlaw said.
Wardlaw said it was “an amazing, unprecedented and historic situation” to run against the six other Democratic Party candidates who filed for the seat.
“I never thought that it would happen. Back in the fall, when the names (of candidates) first started coming out, I never thought that there would be so many people, and I’ve never seen that before in Precinct 1, maybe not the entire state of Texas, so many people running for one place, so I hit the precinct as hard as I could for the primary, and I hit it again the day after the primary,” Wardlaw said.
Wardlaw specifically thanked the Nieto family and members of his own family, including his brother George, who Wardlaw said “ran the ranch,” freeing him to concentrate on the campaign.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com.
