Next Llano County Judge a Cunningham, but which?
By Lew K. Cohn
Managing Editor
The Highlander
Provided no one else has filed to run for the position, the next Llano County judge is guaranteed to be someone with the last name Cunningham.
Incumbent Llano County Judge Mary Cunningham has filed for re-election and faces a March 6 Republican primary challenge from former DPS trooper and government contractor Ronald “Ron” Cunningham of Llano.
The deadline to file for a place on the March 6 GOP or Democratic primary ballot was 6 p.m. Monday, Dec. 11. No Democratic candidates had announced for the position as of the Highlander's deadline, so it appears the winner of the March 6 primary will run unopposed in November for the county's top executive position.
There are five other contested races on the March 6 Republican primary ballot. Incumbent County Clerk Marci Hadeler of Castell has drawn a re-election opponent in Clay Etter of Llano.
Incumbent Precinct 2 Commissioner Linda Raschke of Kingsland also has an opponent as Ricky Johnson of Buchanan Dam has filed to run against her.
Precinct 1 Justice of the Peace Bebe Piatt of Horseshoe Bay will face an election challenge from fellow Horseshoe Bay resident and former JP Richard Owen, while three candidates are vying for the Precinct 2 Justice of the Peace seat currently held by Linda Ballard. They include Bucky Boswell of Llano, Steven “Steve” Lange of Llano and Maureen Riggs of Tow.
Finally, U.S. Rep. Mike Conaway of Midland, whose district includes Llano, will face a Republican primary challenge from fellow Midland resident Paul Myers.
The following candidates are running without opposition on the Republican primary ballot:
* State Representative District 53 — Andrew Murr (I) of Junction (Murr will face opposition in the November general election, however. More on that later in this article).
* District Clerk — Joyce Gillow (I) of Llano.
* County Treasurer — Teresa Kassell (I) of Llano.
* County Surveyor — John Arthur Ables (I) of Llano.
* County Commissioner Precinct 4 — Jerry Don Moss (I) of Llano.
* Justice of the Peace Precinct 3 — Era Marion (I) of Kingsland.
* Justice of the Peace Precinct 4 — Brian Alexander (I) of Llano.
Democrats
While no Democrats have filed for local, county-only races, there are two contested races on the statewide Democratic March 6 primary ballot.
In the U.S. Representative District 11 race, Jennie Lou Leeder of Llano will face off against Eric Pfalzgraf of Odessa to see who will get the opportunity to unseat Conaway in November. And in the District 53 State Representative race, Joe P. Herrera of Natalia will square off against Stephanie Lochte Ertel of Mountain Home for the right to face Murr in the November general election.
