FLIPPED

Medina County remains red; Democrats win every statewide race

It wasn’t a shock that Medina County remained a solid hue of red after Tuesday’s Midterm General Election in the State of Texas.

Instead, the shock was felt all over the state, as Democrats captured every statewide race on the ballot, including many judgeships, and, as of early Wednesday morning, possibly a majority in the Texas House of Representatives.

Democrats were led on the ballot by State Rep and U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico, who defeated State Attorney General Ken Paxton by the widest margin in any statewide race. Most polls leading up to the election were giving Talarico the edge in the Senate race.

An even bigger upset came in the race for Governor, where three-term incumbent Greg Abbott was unseated by State Rep Gina Hinojosa. The margin wasn’t as wide as the Senate race, but was decisive, nonetheless.

Similar margins to the gubernatorial race occured in the race for Lieutenant Governor (Vikki Goodwin unseated incumbent Dan Patrick), and again, in favor of every Democrat in all other statewide races on the ballot.

No Democrat had won a statewide race in Texas since the early 1990s.

In the race for U.S. Congress District 23, Democrat nominee Katy Padilla Stout defeated Republican candidate Brandon Herrera.

Other than the races in Medina County, where Republicans won every race, only two contests on local ballots were won by GOP candidates. The State Senate District 24 race, where incumbent Pete Flores surged as the evening went on to hold onto his post, and the State House District 53 seat, where Wes Virdell won reelection in dominating fashion, stayed Republican.

There were three contested races for Medina County offices, with Republican incumbents winning all three. In the battle for County Commissioner Precinct 2, Larry Sittre was reelected. Phillip Lange won a second term as Justice of the Peace Pct. 1, and Debra Graff, who was elected to fill out an unexpired term in 2024, won a full four-year term as County Treasurer.

County Judge Keith Lutz, County Court At Law Judge Mark Cashion, District Clerk Cindy Fowler, Commissioner Pct. 4 Danny Lawler, JP Pct. 2 Bill Terry Tschirhart and JP Pct. 4 Tomas “Tommy” Ramirez were all unopposed and reelected.

Also unopposed and elected to their first terms of office were JP, Pct. 3 Teresa Koch and County Clerk Cindy Modgling Everett.

Three positions on the Medina County Hospital District Board were won by incumbents: Tim Hardt and Mary Mangold both won against opponents, and Bill Bain was unopposed and declared elected.

Six candidates ran for the three at-large alderman positions on the City of Natalia ballot. The three challengers, Gerry Rogers, Marisa Saldaña and Tiffany Jade Barrientes were the top three vote-getters, outpacing the three incumbents on the ballot, Sam Smith, Mike Fernandez and Selica Vera.

There were four bond propositions for the Northside ISD, which extends into the point of northeast Medina County. All four props failed in Medina County, and district wide in Bexar County.

Finally, there were the six propositions and a slate of board officers on the ballot relating to the creation of a Municipal Utility District in the Medina Valley Ranch subdivision. Prop A, creating the district, passed 1-0. Props B-F all tied 1-1, and therefore, did not pass. The slate of five permanent directors for the MUD all received one vote, and were elected, including Matthew Allen, Louis Espinar, Robert David Oestreich, Ricky Shumake and Wayne Springer.

A complete chart of all Medina County election final totals, which are still unofficial until canvassed by county commissioners, may be viewed on page 2A.

To view statewide totals, visit the Texas Secretary of State’s website, sos.state.tx.us.