Blackburn, Wall hold off GOP challengers; voters pick Biden
Burnet County Precinct 3 Commissioner Billy Wall (top, left) celebrates his March 3 primary win with his wife, Diane Jay (top, right), and supporters Karyn (bottom, left) and Gerry Mason during a returns watch party at Trailblazer Grille in Burnet. Wall held off challenger William Haddock in the GOP primary. Wall doesn’t have a Democratic challenger in the November general election. Courtesy photo
Two Highland Lakes Republican incumbents received their party’s nominations despite challengers in the March 3 primary.
Llano County Sheriff Bill Blackburn defeated challenger Jim Caruso 3,343 to 1,431 on Tuesday, winning 70 percent of the vote. There is no Democratic challenger in the November election for Llano County sheriff.
In Burnet County, Precinct 3 Commissioner Billy Wall held off William Haddock 950 to 594 for the Republican nomination. Wall also faces no Democratic challenger in November.
For the Republican nomination for Llano County attorney, Dwain Rogers defeated Camille Reasor 2,928 to 1,577. Rogers has no Democratic challenger in November.
One Llano County race looks to be headed for a runoff May 26. In the four-way race for the Republican nomination for Precinct 3 justice of the peace, Dorothy “Dot” Wooten and Debra Edwards had the most votes, but neither captured a clear majority. Edwards garnered 336 votes, or 41.2 percent, while Wooten brought in 194 votes, or 23.8 percent.
Up the ballot, Highland Lakes Republicans clearly supported President Donald Trump and Senator John Cornyn in their re-election bids. Both earned overwhelming support from GOP voters in Burnet and Llano counties as well as across Texas.
In the District 11 congressional race, Llano County Republicans favored August Pfluger, who received 35.4 percent of the vote. He earned 52.2 percent across the congressional district and will face Democrat Jon Mark Hogg in the November election.
Representative Roger Williams of District 25, which includes Burnet County, cruised to an easy win in the GOP primary. He’ll face Democratic challenger Julie Oliver in November.
On the Democratic side of the ticket, two races getting the most attention were for president and U.S. Senate. Voters in Burnet and Llano counties gave the edge to former Vice President Joe Biden. In Burnet County, he received 39.5 percent of the vote, while in Llano County he earned 40 percent.
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders was second in Burnet County with 22.3 percent followed by Michael Bloomberg (16.2 percent) and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren (11.1 percent).
In Llano County, Sanders and Bloomberg tied for second with 18.6 percent each. Warren trailed at just over 9 percent.
Overall in Texas, Biden, with 32.9 percent of the vote, had a slight lead over Sanders with 29.8 percent based on the latest numbers (253 of 254 Texas counties reporting). Bloomberg was at 15.2 percent and Warren at 11.5 percent.
In the crowded field for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate, Mary “M.J.” Hegar emerged with the most votes across Texas but far short of the majority to win the nomination outright. She was at 22.7 percent of the vote.
Hegar will face either Christina Tzintzun Ramirez or Royce West in a May 26 runoff. Ramirez and West were in a tight race with Ramirez earning 13.7 percent to West’s 13.6 percent.
In the Highland Lakes, Hegar was the overall favorite. She picked up 61.4 percent of the Burnet County vote and 62.5 percent of the Llano County vote. None of the other 11 Democratic senate candidates cracked double-digits by percentage in Burnet or Llano counties.
In Burnet County, 6,830 people voted in the Republican primary and 2,610 voted in the Democratic primary. In Llano County, 5,035 people voted in the GOP primary and 1,317 voted in the Democratic primary.
For a complete breakdown, visit the Texas Secretary of State’s election results webpage.
Results are unofficial until canvassed.