The Lead’s Editorial: The Kerr County GOP’s corrupt primary process stinks

The Kerr County Republican Party has a simple job: facilitate fair primary elections so voters can choose their nominees.

In a county where Republican primary winners become the de facto officeholders representing all 52,000 residents, this responsibility matters. The party should host candidate forums, organize debates, and provide transparent information that helps voters make informed decisions.

Instead, under County Chair Helen Herd’s leadership, the Kerr County GOP has issued an “Official 2026 GOP Local Voter Guide” that picks winners through a process so corrupt it’s almost impressive in its brazenness.

The evaluation committee includes a candidate’s wife judging her husband’s opponents, two members who publicly opposed another candidate weeks before rating him, and Herd herself while running for re-election. The guide formats races to hide the existence of opponents, ranks party loyalty above job competence, and produces results that defy common sense.

This isn’t voter education. This is institutional corruption dressed up as public service.

The wife, the critics, and the candidate

The seven-member committee that evaluated candidates includes:

Sarah Stewart, whose husband Jack Stewart is running for County Judge. Jack got “Certified” status. His opponent, longtime Commissioner Tom Jones, chose not to interview with a committee led by his opponent’s wife – and was left in the fine print of the voter guide, creating the false impression that Jack Stewart is running unopposed.

Monica Cannon and Bruce McConkey, who on November 24, 2025 stood before Commissioners Court and publicly criticized Tom Jones for remaining in his commissioner seat after announcing his county judge run. Monica Cannon called it leaving her precinct “without representation.” Bruce McConkey discussed how “multiple people” wanted to replace him. Three weeks later, these same two people were evaluating Jones’s candidacy for county judge. Unsurprisingly, Jones declined to participate in a process overseen by documented political opponents.

Helen Herd, serving ex-officio on the committee while simultaneously running for re-election as County Chair. She received “Certified” status from a process she oversees.

Loyalty trumps competence – literally
The committee’s own explanation, published on the party website on January 15, reveals the fundamental problem. Candidates are evaluated on five criteria, explicitly ranked by importance:

Constitutional values

Allegiance to the Republican Party

Ability to do the job

Vision and leadership

Professionalism and public record

Read that again: Party allegiance ranks second, ahead of the actual ability to do the job.

The website states plainly: “These criteria emphasize constitutional governance and party principles first, while still accounting for competence and character.”

Competence is an afterthought. Party loyalty is the priority.

The results prove it.

Amber Longenbaugh and Denise Vela, candidates for District Clerk and County Clerk – positions requiring extensive knowledge of election administration, records management, and statutory compliance – received “Reservations.”

Vela’s case is particularly telling. She has been repeatedly criticized by factions of the far right of the Republican Party in Kerr County for maintaining election integrity against the party’s worst intentions. In other words, she’s being punished for doing her job properly – for following election law instead of bending to pressure from conspiracy theorists.

This is what gets you “Reservations” from Helen Herd’s evaluation committee: competence, professionalism, and refusing to politicize a technical office that should serve all voters.

City Councilwoman Brenda Hughes, one of the few actual elected officials in the race with a proven record of easily winning three successive campaigns, also got “Reservations.”

Meanwhile, Commissioner Rich Paces received “Certified” status despite being the subject of extensive Lead coverage for making demonstrably false claims about renewable energy facilities, flood response operations, and other county matters.

What’s being tested here isn’t competence, experience, or public service. It’s ideological conformity to undefined standards – and apparently, willingness to subordinate professional responsibilities to partisan pressure.

Even candidates call it corrupt
The most damning evidence comes from Guy “Bubba” Walters, a Precinct 4 commissioner candidate who received “Certified” status yet went on the record to criticize the entire process.

In a January 27 Lead Live interview, Walters called the party’s actions “disappointing” and contrary to what candidates were originally told would happen.

He specifically called out how the guide misleads voters about who’s actually running: “If you’re not following politics, when you open that guide up, you look and you go, ‘Well, there’s only one person running.'”

Walters argued the party’s proper role should be “recruiting” and trying to “keep us together, keep us as one” – not dividing the field during primaries. He noted that the Republican Women “are very upfront about not endorsing a candidate until after primary.”

When someone who benefits from a rigged system still speaks out against it, you know the corruption is undeniable.

From fringe tactic to official policy
This isn’t the first time Kerr County voters have seen this playbook.

Two years ago, the far-right group We The People Liberty In Action distributed a nearly identical voter guide, pretending to speak with the authority of the Republican Party. It worked spectacularly – achieving a down-ballot sweep of ideologically aligned candidates.

The same group tried to endorse in nonpartisan City Council races based on far-right ideology. Those efforts failed miserably because ideology couldn’t hide behind party authority.

Now, Helen Herd’s GOP has made it official. What was once a fringe tactic by activists pretending to represent the party has been institutionalized by the actual party apparatus under her leadership.

The playbook that worked when voters thought it came from the party now actually does come from the party.

Two days after the state party said don’t
The timing is remarkable.

January 13, 2026: The Republican Party of Texas issues a public statement condemning interference in Republican primaries, calling it “unethical” and urging county chairs to “call out and dismiss such a practice” because “dirty tricks have no business in a fair election in Texas.”

January 15, 2026: The Kerr County GOP publishes its endorsement guide – exactly two days later.

Either Helen Herd and her committee didn’t get the memo, or they genuinely don’t believe their actions constitute the kind of primary interference the state party was condemning.

The state GOP condemns “push polling” as undermining fair elections. But institutional party endorsements that allow an incumbent to coast on party authority while his challenger does the actual work of campaigning?

In the Paces-Allen race, Allen has raised $20,450 to Paces’s $450 – a 45-to-1 fundraising advantage that shows who’s actually putting in the effort to earn votes. Allen is knocking doors, making calls, and building support the hard way.

Paces doesn’t have to. He has the party’s “Certified” stamp, distributed at polling places under official Republican Party authority. Why raise money and campaign when the party apparatus does it for you?

That’s not legitimate voter education. That’s the party putting its institutional thumb on the scale to help an incumbent who hasn’t earned re-election through his own campaign efforts.

The hypocrisy is staggering.

What the party should have done
In a functioning democratic party apparatus, the Kerr County GOP’s first priority would have been ensuring basic candidate eligibility – like verifying none of their candidates have felony records that would disqualify them from office.

This isn’t theoretical. Three years ago, a Kerr County commissioner had to be removed after it was discovered they had a felony record.

Before Helen Herd’s party started administering ideological purity tests, perhaps they should have confirmed that candidates can legally serve in office.

Beyond that baseline competence, the party should have:

Hosted public candidate forums for every contested race

Provided equal time and opportunity for all candidates

Published objective information about candidates’ backgrounds and positions

Maintained strict neutrality in the primary process

Reserved any institutional support for the general election

This is what the Republican Women do. They maintain neutrality until after the primary. It’s not complicated. It’s basic democratic governance.

Instead, we got a closed-door process riddled with conflicts of interest, producing endorsements based on undefined “ideological alignment” that ranks party loyalty above the ability to do the job – all while apparently skipping the fundamental step of basic candidate vetting.

The stakes are real
This matters because Republican primary winners in Kerr County don’t just represent Republicans – they represent everyone.

When the GOP dominates local offices, the primary IS the election for most positions. The winners will serve all 52,000 county residents, regardless of party affiliation.

County clerks will administer elections for all voters. District clerks will manage court records for all residents. Commissioners will make decisions affecting everyone’s property taxes, roads, and emergency services. Judges will preside over cases involving all county residents.

These officials need to be competent, ethical, and capable of serving everyone – not just those who pass an undefined loyalty test administered by a compromised committee with personal stakes in the outcomes.

Helen Herd’s leadership failure
This happened on Helen Herd’s watch. She serves ex officio on the evaluation committee. She oversees the party apparatus that produced this guide. She’s running for re-election as County Chair while participating in a process that rated her “Certified.”

She could have said no when Sarah Stewart, a candidate’s wife, joined the committee.

She could have objected when Monica Cannon and Bruce McConkey, who publicly opposed a candidate, were assigned to evaluate him.

She could have insisted on public forums instead of closed-door interviews.

She could have maintained the neutrality that other local Republican groups observe.

She could have prioritized competence over loyalty for technical administrative positions.

She did none of these things.

Instead, she presided over a process that legitimized what was previously a fringe tactic, institutionalized conflicts of interest, and substituted party boss preferences for voter choice.

That’s a leadership failure, plain and simple.

All these candidates are Republican enough
Let’s be absolutely clear: Every candidate in these Republican primary races is sufficiently Republican.

Tom Jones isn’t insufficiently Republican. Mike Allen isn’t insufficiently Republican. Brenda Hughes, Wayne Uecker, Amber Longenbaugh, and Denise Vela aren’t insufficiently Republican.

The question has never been whether these candidates meet some baseline Republican standard. They’re running in the Republican primary. They’re all Republicans.

The question is whether the Kerr County Republican Party apparatus will serve voters or serve itself. Whether it will facilitate democratic choice or substitute its own judgment. Whether it will maintain the integrity of the primary process or corrupt it for factional advantage.

Under Helen Herd’s leadership, the party has chosen to serve itself.

What voters should do
Treat this “Official GOP Local Voter Guide” with the skepticism it deserves.

Look past the “Certified” and “Reservations” labels. Research candidates yourself. Attend forums if any are offered. Ask questions.

Ask why experienced administrators and elected officials got “Reservations” while others with questionable public records got “Certified.”

Ask why a candidate’s wife was on the committee evaluating his opponents.

Ask why people who publicly criticized a candidate weeks earlier were scoring his candidacy.

Ask why party loyalty is ranked as more important than the ability to do the job.

Ask why candidates who chose not to participate in a compromised process were left off the guide entirely, creating the false impression they’re not running.

Most importantly, ask yourself whether you want party bosses with conflicts of interest picking winners in your primary, or whether you want to make that decision yourself based on transparent information and your own judgment.

The Republican primary is March 3. Early voting begins February 17.

Your vote counts. Your judgment matters. Don’t let anyone – especially a compromised party apparatus – tell you how to cast it.

The Kerr County Republican Party should be ashamed of this guide. Voters should ignore it.