How Burnet County Voted

NOTE: The following results are the complete, but unofficial, results of the 20 voting precincts of BURNET COUNTY. They may or may not line up with state or national outcomes. See Friday's edition of The Highlander for the details.

After all the polling locations closed General Election Day, Nov. 8, and the votes were tallied, it became apparent that Burnet County voters had turned out in record numbers and favored the Republican Party and presidential candidate Donald J. Trump and his running mate Mike Pence, who at 10:30 p.m. seemed to be carrying the U.S. Electoral College vote tally.
Of 28,938 registered voters in Burnet County, 19,459 or 67.24 percent cast a ballot. The majority, but not all voters took the straight ticket route.
Straight ticket voters went 80.84 percent Republican (10,511 of 13,002 straight ticket votes) and 17.83 percent (2,318 votes) for the Democrats, with 129 straight ticket votes (.99 percent) Libertarian and 44 votes (.34 percent) straight Green Party.
Trump/Pence received 14,595 votes (76.23 percent) of 19,146 cast in the presidential election; Democrats Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine received 3,785 votes (17.83 percent); Libertarians Gary Johnson and William Weld, 563 votes (2.94 percent) and Green Party Jill Stein and Ajamu Baraka, 103 votes (2.94 percent) with the remainder to various write-in candidates.

Contested State Races
In other contested races, Burnet County voters chose:
United States Representative District 25 – (R) Roger Williams 14,595 of 18,995 votes cast; (D) Kathi Thomas, 2,685 (19.4 percent) and  (L) Loren Marc Schneiderman, 581 votes (3.06 percent).
State Senator District 24 – (R) Dawn Buckingham, 14,915 of 18,763 votes (79.49 percent) and (D) Virginia "Jennie Lou" Leeder, 3,848 votes (20.51 percent)
State Board of Education, District 10: (R) Tom Maynard, 14,721 votes of 18,688 votes cast (78.77 percent); (D) Judy Jennings, 3,967 votes (21.23 percent.
Railroad Commissioner: (R) Wayne Christian, 14,370 of 18,977 votes (75.72 percent; (D) Grady Yarbrough, 3,444 votes (18.15 percent); (L) Mark Miller, 866 votes (4.56 percent); (G) Martina Salinas, 297 votes (1.57 percent).
Justice, Supreme Court, Place 3: (R) Debra Lehrmann, 14,550 votes (78.89 percent) of 18,923 votes cast; (D) Mike Westergren, 3,419 votes (18.07 percent; (L) Kathie Glass, 768 (4.06 percent); (G) Rodolfo Rivera Munoz, 186 votes (.98 percent).
Justice, Supreme Court, Place 5: (R) Paul Green, 14,550 votes (76.96 percent) of 18,907 votes cast; (D) Dori Contreras Garza, 3,533 votes (18.69 percent); (L) Tom Oxford, 667 votes (3.53 percent); (G) Charles E. Waterbury, 157 votes (.83 percent).
Justice, Supreme Court, Place 9: (R) Eva Guzman, 14,550 votes (76.31 percent) of 18,921 votes cast; (D) Savannah Robinson, 3,526 votes (18.64 percent); (L) Don Fulton, 732 votes (3.87 percent);   (G) Jim Chisholm, 224 votes (1.18 percent).
Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 2: (R) Mary Lou Keel, 14,543  (77.27 percent) of 18,820 votes cast; Democratic incumbent Justice Lawrence “Larry” Meyers, 3,460 votes (18.38 percent); (L) Mark Ash, 669 votes (3.55 percent); (G) Adam King Blackwell Reposa, 148 votes (.79 percent).
Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 5: (R) Scott Walker, 14,534 votes (77.16 percent) of  18,836 votes cast; (D) Betsy Johnson, 3,536 votes (18.77 percent; (L) William Bryan Strange, III, 572 votes (3.04 percent); (G) Judith Sanders-Castro, 194 (1.03 percent).
Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 6: (R) Michael E. Keasler, 14,530 votes (77.29 percent) of 18,799 votes cast; (D) Robert Burns, 3,508 votes (18.66 percent); (L) Mark W. Bennett, 761 votes (4.05 percent).
Local Questions
In Horseshoe Bay, voters can cast a ballot for up to three city council candidates, but winners will require a combination of Llano County votes with the 372 Burnet County votes: Craig Haydon, 103 votes; Jerry Gray,84;  Kent Graham, 92; Frank Gracely, Jr., 37, and Dennis Hoover, 56 votes.
In Granite Shoals, voters said “no” by just seven votes to an ordinance to prohibit the feeding of deer. Of 1,159 votes, 50.3 percent (583) said “no” and 49.7 percent (576 votes) said “yes.”
The $3 million street bond proposition carried, however. Eleven more voters weighed in on that question: 1,170 votes were divided 66.92 percent (783 votes) in favor and 33.08 percent against (387 votes).
In Marble Falls, eight propositions for amendments to the City Charter were on the ballot:
Proposition 1 passed— Of 1,814 votes, 91.68 percent (1,663 votes) voted “yes” to require that members that are newly elected or re-elected Council members or Mayor must take the oath of office within 30 days of the election or the office will become vacant to provide a mechanism to declare an office vacant.
Proposition   2 passed — Of 1,696 votes, 64.56 percent voted “yes” to   change   the requirements for two readings of an ordinance and publication of two notices of an ordinance to one reading and one publication of notice, except as required by State Law/
Proposition 3 passed— Of 1,784 votes, 69.32 percent voted “yes” to allow the City Manager to  designate  an  alternate  City  employee  the  authority  to  execute  checks  in  the  absence  or  unavailability of the City Manager.
Proposition 4 failed— Of 1,734 votes, 51.56 percent said “no” on whether to allow facsimile signatures on the value of checks to be increased from $5,000 to $15,000.
Proposition 5 failed— Of 1,759 votes, 55.94 percent said “no” to providing that the City Manager be  required  to  present  financial  reports  to  the  City  Council  on  a  bi-annual  basis  instead  of  a monthly basis.
Proposition  6 passed— Of 1,737 votes, 58.09 percent said “yes” to  allow  the  City  Council  the  discretion to designate which officers and employees of the City that handle money need to be bonded instead of mandating that all officers and employees that handle money be required to provide a surety bond.
Proposition 7 passed— Of 2,699 votes, 72.4 percent said “yes” to be consistent with State Law, to change the requirement for continuous employment of a City employee from two years to six months in order to allow the employee to remain employed by the City in the event that a relative is elected as Mayor or to the City Council or from two years to thirty days if a relative is hired as the City Manager or other appointing officer.  
Proposition 8 passed— Of 1,728 votes, 75.26 percent said “yes” to be consistent with State Law by removing a section of the charter that requires that a candidate for elective office not be in arrears in the payment of taxes or other liabilities due the City.