Several contested races set for May
Thirteen seats in Bastrop County city councils and school boards will be up for election in May, with few races uncontested.
Elgin City Council
As current Mayor Ron Ramirez did not file for re-election, the position drew two candidates. Elgin Main Street Advisory Board President Theresa McShan and Stephanie McBurney Lippke, a citizen who has voiced criticism of city leadership, will compete for the mayor position.
In Ward 1, Amanda D. Moore will face Joy Casnovsky. In Ward 2, Charles “Chuck” Swain will face YaLecia Love. Current council members Jessica Bega and Susie Arreaga did not file for re-election.
In Ward 3, Al Rodriguez is challenging incumbent council member Thomas Ibis. In Ward 4, Grant Hennig is challenging incumbent council member and Mayor Pro-Tem Sue Prinz Brashar.
Elgin ISD Board of Trustees
Place 4 trustee and board parliamentarian Angie Edmon will run for re-election, facing challengers Joe Cox, a business owner, and Stephen Reyes, a student and UX designer.
The race for Place 5 will draw Patrick Maass, Duane Weber and educator Sarah Gudenkauf, a member of the Elgin Main Street Advisory Board who unsuccessfully ran for Elgin City Council last year; current Place 5 trustee JD Harkins did not file for re-election.
As current Place 7 trustee David Glass runs for election for the Bastrop County Commissioners Court, three candidates will face off: food manufacturing manager John R. Altmiller Jr., former Elgin City Council member Mary Alice Penson, and content developer Jennifer Culver, one of the plaintiffs named in the lawsuit against Elgin ISD regarding masks.
Bastrop City Council
Both places up for election on the Bastrop City Council will be filled without opposition: Planning & Zoning Commission member Cheryl Lee, who narrowly lost a council election last year and also unsuccessfully ran in this year’s special election, will fill Place 1 unopposed, and engineer John Kirkland will fill Place 5 unopposed. Mayor Pro-Tem and Place 1 council member Bill Peterson did not file for re-election, as did Place 5 council member Dock Jackson, who is running for Bastrop County Judge.
Since both council races are unopposed, the City of Bastrop will cancel its city council election this May. Bastrop was also planning for a city charter amendment election this year; however, since the city council election will not take place in May, the Bastrop City Council will consider postponing the charter election in order to coincide with a future council election.
Bastrop ISD Board of Trustees
Current Place 5 and Place 6 trustees, Chris Dillon and Dr. Matthew Mix, are running for re-election unopposed. Board President and Place 7 trustee, Ashley Mutschink, will face Joseph B. Thompson, a nonprofit executive who unsuccessfully ran for school board last spring.
Smithville City Council
As current Smithville Mayor Joanna Morgan did not file for re-election after finishing an unexpired term, Place 1 and Place 2 council members Sharon Seidel Foerster and Tom Etheredge are running for the position.
As current Place 4 council member Stan Gerdes runs for the Texas House of Representatives, landscaper Dane Garrison and business owner Cassie Barrientos will face off for his seat. Place 5 council member Janice Bruno is running for re-election unopposed.
Smithville ISD Board of Trustees
Current Place 5 trustee and board vice-president Candice Parsons will run unopposed for re-election. Place 6 and Place 7 trustees Mike Davis Jr. and Howard Burns Jr. did not run for re-election; Maria Margarita Igoe and Joshua Magden will compete for Place 6, and Michael Hancock and Casey Hanchey will face off for Place 7.