Lambert leads Hughes in Precinct 1 commissioner runoff; Moose ahead in court-at-law race

Clay Lambert held a commanding lead over Brenda Hughes in the Kerr County Precinct 1 commissioner runoff Tuesday night, and Robert Hunter Moose led Brett L. Ferguson in the County Court-at-Law race, though neither contest was final as election officials worked through a hand count of Election Day ballots.

Lambert led Hughes 900 to 556 — 61.81% to 38.19% — in absentee and early voting. Moose led Ferguson 2,651 to 2,109 — 55.69% to 44.31% — in the same ballot categories. Kerr County counted its in-person ballots by hand Tuesday night, and those results had not been released as of this report.

Precinct 1 commissioner

Lambert’s 344-vote cushion in absentee and early balloting represented the early answer to the central question that hung over the Precinct 1 race since March: where would the supporters of Wayne Uecker and George Baroody go?

In the March 3 primary, Uecker drew 791 votes — 29.5% of the total — running strongest in voting precincts 107 and 109, the northern Kerrville corridor stretching toward the Gillespie County line.

Hughes had entered the runoff facing a structural challenge the numbers never resolved in her favor. Both she and Uecker had been cited by the Kerr County Republican Party ahead of the primary over questions about their Republican credentials — yet together they drew roughly 60% of the March vote to Lambert’s 33%. Hughes needed to run the table on Uecker’s voters, something close to 60-65% of them, just to overcome her primary deficit. Lambert needed roughly half.

How much Election Day voting can move the needle remains to be seen. The seat is an unexpired term: the winner serves the remainder of Tom Jones’s commissioner tenure as Jones moves to the county judge’s office following his March primary victory.

County Court-at-Law

Moose’s 542-vote margin in absentee and early balloting put him in a stronger position heading into the hand count. In March, Moose led a five-candidate field with 41% but fell short of the majority needed to avoid a runoff. Ferguson, who finished second in March, had closed the gap through the campaign but trailed in every ballot category reported Tuesday.

The court-at-law seat is a countywide race, meaning its electorate dwarfs the commissioner contest — 4,760 absentee and early ballots cast compared to 1,456 in Precinct 1. The larger vote base makes a dramatic swing on Election Day ballots less likely, though not impossible.

Election Day hand count results for both races were pending at deadline.