Lambert consolidates Uecker, Baroody voters to crush Hughes in Precinct 1 runoff

Clay Lambert won the Kerr County Precinct 1 commissioner race Tuesday night by absorbing nearly all of the voters who backed his eliminated primary opponents — turning a razor-thin March finish into a landslide while Brenda Hughes gained almost nothing beyond her original base.

Lambert defeated Hughes 1,358 to 769 — 63.84% to 36.16% — in unofficial results released after 1 a.m. Wednesday following a hand count of Election Day ballots at the Kerr County Elections Administration.

The numbers tell a straightforward story of consolidation. In the March 3 primary, Lambert drew roughly 878 votes. Tuesday he drew 1,358 — a gain of approximately 480 votes, nearly matching the 791 votes Wayne Uecker collected in March when he finished second. Hughes, who drew about 742 votes in March, finished Tuesday with 769 — a gain of fewer than 30.

George Baroody’s 172 March voters appear to have split largely between Lambert and staying home. Total runoff turnout of 2,127 votes was well below the March primary’s 2,683, which is typical for a runoff election.

The result validated the Kerr County Republican Party’s controversial intervention in the race. Ahead of the March primary, party officials publicly questioned the Republican credentials of both Hughes and Uecker — a move critics argued amounted to an endorsement of Lambert, the only candidate spared such scrutiny. Despite the backlash that followed, and despite Hughes and Uecker together outpolling Lambert by nearly two to one in March, the party’s preferred candidate prevailed.

For Hughes, who had never lost a race in three terms on the Kerrville City Council, the defeat was decisive. She termed out of her council seat earlier. No woman has won an election for the court. 

Robert Hunter Moose also won Tuesday, defeating Brett L. Ferguson 3,957 to 3,302 — 54.51% to 45.49% — in the County Court-at-Law runoff. Moose had led a five-candidate March primary field with 41% before advancing to the runoff against Ferguson.

Lambert will join the Commissioners Court to serve the unexpired remainder of former Precinct 1 Commissioner Tom Jones’s term. Jones won the county judge’s race in March.