The largest field of candidates and issues since 2003 await New Braunfels voters, who on Saturday will select city council and charter amendments and New Braunfels and Comal independent school district trustees.
Comal County elections include mayoral and city council races in Garden Ridge and Bulverde, with Guadalupe County voters selecting city council members in Marion and school district trustees in LaVernia, San Marcos and Prairie Lea, which also features a bond measure.
Despite 14 candidates on local ballots, early voting was slow between April 19 and Tuesday. Elections Administrator Cynthia Jaqua said just 3,295 votes were cast at six county polling sites and 343 received through the mail as of Thursday.
Candidates apparently spent more time campaigning than fundraising for spots on school boards and New Braunfels City Council, according to reports for the period leading up to Saturdayâs general election.
Thirteen of 14 candidates vying for city council and New Braunfels and Comal independent school district boards reported Monday as required by the Texas Election Code, covering the March 23-April 23 filing period.Â
Brittany Soto, the 19-year-old McQueeney resident and college student seeking a spot on the CISD board tallied the most donations â 54 totaling $2,655 â and council candidates Harry Bowers and Joy Harvey again outraised and outspent opponents in city council races.Â
Intermittent downpours might have kept many registered voters from casting ballots for candidates and issues in five May 1 elections, but officials are expecting many more during the final three days of early voting.
âThis is the cityâs first contested (May) election since 2012 â without them, it would really be slow,â Comal County Elections Administrator Cynthia Jaqua said of the 1,722 votes cast at polls and through the mail since the nine-day early voting period began Monday.Â
Jaqua said 84,034 of nearly 118,000 total registered voters are eligible to help decide races for New Braunfels, Comal and Marion school district trustees, city council members in New Braunfels, Garden Ridge, Bulverde and Marion, and 18 proposed amendments to New Braunfelsâ city charter.
New Braunfels and Comal County residents will consider new candidatesâ promising new voices this spring â with May 1 election outcomes possibly shaping future courses for city councils and school districts.
Political action committees and donations from long-time city and county politicos are backing candidates facing challenges from citizens who packed city council and school board meetings the past several months, some threatening to sideline incumbents opposed to their views.
It could all lead to a strong turnout at the polls when early voting begins on Monday. Elections Administrator Cynthia Jaqua projects more than 80,000 will cast ballots during early voting, which ends Tuesday, April 27, and on Election Day, May 1.
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