Bastrop voters turn out, Cook re-elected

About a quarter of Bastrop County’s registered voters turned out to the polls during Super Tuesday, with thousands of ballots cast in races that included a successful reelection bid for Sheriff Maurice Cook.

Voters Tuesday, March 5, saw Republican Stan Gerdes retain his seat as the district’s state representative for House District 17, narrowly beating out Tom Glass with 54% of the ballots in Bastrop. District wide, Gerdes had 58% of the votes.

Cook, a Republican, will continue to hold his spot as the county’s top cop, pulling ahead of challenger Jeff “Gogo” Gogolewski by 1,700 votes.

The Democrats did not field a candidate, so Cook has no opposition in the Nov. 5 general election.

Democrat Karin Crump took Third Court of Appeals judge, Place 5, with 55% of the votes, and Maggie Ellis, a Democrat, won the spot for Place 2 but will have to go to a runoff, May 28, as she only won over 38% of voters. She faces Edward Smith, who garnered 34% of the Democrat tally.

Spots for Bastrop County’s commissioner and justice of peace will also go into a runoff May 28, with Republicans Dominica McGinnis and Zachary Carter, respectively, taking the wins but falling short of the 50%-plus-one cutoff.

McGinnis will face Butch Carmack for the Precinct 1 commissioner’s seat. Incumbent Precinct 2 Justice of the Peace Carter takes on Ty Carter in the runoff.

Elizabeth Beyer, a Republican, claimed the 465th state District judge slot with 64% of the electorate’s approval.

All of the local elections only saw candidates from one party affiliation, and other positions weren’t contested.

On the national scene, former President Donald Trump, a Republican and President Joe Biden, a Democrat, took the primary for their respective parties.

GOP contender Nikki Haley was the only other candidate with a significant number of votes, stealing 15% from Trump.

Republican Ted Cruz won over 88% of voters for his chair on the U.S. Senate, and will face off against Democrat Colin Allred during the general election.

The spot for U.S. District 10 representative will see Republican Michael McCaul matched against Democrat Theresa Boisseau, who each held around 72% of the votes.

Republican Michael Cloud claimed 75% of the votes for U.S. House District 27, and Democrat Tanya Lloyd grabbed 54%.

The last day to register to vote for the November general election is Oct. 7, and the first day of early voting by personal appearance is Oct. 21.

According to election officials, 8,604 ballots were cast across the county during early voting Feb. 20 to March 1, which accounts for 14.72% of Bastrop County's 58,441 registered voters.

More results and details surrounding the primaries will come in the Courier’s March 13 edition.