New faces signed up for commissioners court races

There will be turnover at the Gonzales County Courthouse as three county officials did not file for re-election by the Dec. 11 filing deadline, according to Gonzales County GOP Chair Liz Hernandez.

Voters in the 2024 Gonzales County Republican Primary will be selecting a new county attorney as well as new commissioners for Precinct 1 and Precinct 3. Incumbent County Attorney Paul Watkins has said he will retire at the end of his current term and neither Precinct 1 Commissioner K.O. “Dell” Whiddon nor Precinct 3 Commissioner Kevin La Fleur filed for re-election either.
There are three candidates running for Precinct 1 commissioner in March. David Janota of Gonzales filed for election on Dec. 6 and joins Anton "Tony" Matias of Gonzales and Ryan W. Mills of Gonzales on the primary ballot. Janota is a data collector, while Matias is a foreman and Mills is a natural resource consultant.

Meanwhile, the only two candidates who have filed for Precinct 3 commissioner are Thomas "Tommy" Barnick of Harwood and Roy A. Staton of Gonzales. Both list their occupations as being in road and bridge.

There are no Democratic candidates for commissioner, so the winners of the primary will be considered to be elected to the court.

The only person to file for Gonzales County Attorney in the GOP Primary is Eduardo “Eddie” Escobar, a local attorney with the firm of Reese & Escobar who also serves as city attorney for Nixon. Escobar has no Democratic challenger next November.

Incumbent Sheriff Keith A. Schmidt has filed for re-election to a full term as the county’s top law enforcement official and is the only Republican candidate. Schmidt was appointed to the position in 2021 after the untimely death of Sheriff Robert Ynclan and was elected to serve the remainder of Ynclan’s term in 2022.

On the Democratic side, Gonzales County Democratic Party Chair Yolanda Messman said Clay Allen, a candidate in last year’s special election against Schmidt, will be the only Democratic candidate in the primary. He would face off against Schmidt in the November general election.

Incumbent Tax Assessor-Collector Crystal L. Cedillo filed for re-election without opposition. Cedillo has held the position since 2013 and will be seeking her fourth full term in office.

Incumbent Precinct 1 County Constable Johnnie Hall has filed for re-election in the GOP primary and faces a challenge from former Smiley City Marshall Scott Rhodes Sr., who ran against Hall in the 2020 GOP primary as well.

Incumbent Precinct 3 County Constable Derek Johnson was the only person who filed to run for his position, while incumbent Precinct 4 County Constable John J. Moreno was the only person who filed to run for his office.

The two incumbent district judges were the only ones to file to run on GOP ballot. They are 25^th District Judge Bill Old III and 2^nd 25^th District Judge Jessica Crawford. There are no Democratic candidates.

The race for U.S. Congress for House 27 has two candidates in the March GOP primary — incumbent Michael Cloud of Victoria and challenger Luis Espindola, a defense contractor. Meanwhile, the two Democrats in the primary are teacher Tanya Loyd and tax preparer Anthony (A.J.) Tristan.

For state House 44, the incumbent Rep. John Kuempel has a pair of GOP primary challengers in federal procurement employee David Freimarck of Cibolo and retired U.S. Marine Greg Switzer of Seguin. The lone Democrat on the ballot is shoemaker Eric Norman.