Cutler narrowly wins in sheriff's race, Shell reelected as commissioner pct. 3

Hays County Sheriff Gary Cutler ended election night as the unofficial victor with 50.97% of the vote. Challenger Alex Villalobos tallied 49.03% of the vote. 

At this time Hays County Elections Office has counted all ballots cast in person as well as all mail-in ballots received by Monday, totalling 71.2% voter turnout. There may be additional mail-in ballots and military ballots trickling in that are left to be tallied.

The extremely close race had just a 2,048 vote difference after tallying 109,386 ballots cast of Hays County’s 153,614 registered voters. 

Cutler ended the night with 53,451 votes, while Villalobos garnered 51,423. 

Cutler has held the office for a decade and has boasted movement toward recent criminal justice reform programs. 

Villalobos, the current Hays County Chief of Staff, has substantial experience in law enforcement and campaigned on auditing the department for efficiency and opportunities for improvements and reform. He said he will continue his commitment to community and dedication to progress.

“I am proud of the race we ran and what our campaign stood for,” Villalobos said. “I hope the policies that I helped propel, like cite and release, will continue to move toward implementation. I hope that the lies and false attacks that the dark money PACs hurled at me and my team don't discourage other people of color from engaging in public service. I look forward to working with our county leaders to ensure we keep all people in mind when making decisions.”

Commissioner Lon Shell unofficial victor

Hays County Commissioner Lon Shell has unofficially won reelection for the Precinct 3 Commissioner seat. 

Shell finished the night with a 994 vote lead over his challenger Lisa Prewitt. 

At this time Hays County Elections Office has counted all ballots cast in person as well as all mail-in ballots received by Monday, totalling 71.2% voter turnout. There may be additional mail-in ballots and military ballots trickling in that are left to be tallied, which is why the win is unofficial. 

There have been 109,386 ballots counted from the 153,614 registered voters. 

Shell tallied 52.04% of the votes with 12,660 ballots and Prewitt garnered 47.96% of the vote with 11,666. 

The race remained close with a difference of just a few percentage points all night.

Both candidates have campaigned on prudent use of public funds and smart growth. 

Shell and Prewitt did not immediately respond for comment.