Election: Sharon Foerster will serve as Smithville's next mayor after defeating Tom Etheredge
Voters elected a new mayor in Smithville on Saturday in a race that pitted two council members against each other for the city’s highest elected office.
Place 1 City Council Member Sharon Foerster will serve as Smithville’s next mayor after voters carried her over the finish line with nearly 54% support against Place 2 Council Member Tom Etheredge.
Foerster received 361 votes compared to Etheredge’s 312 votes.
“Thank you Smithville!” Foerster said on her Facebook page. “I feel very honored to be elected as the mayor of Smithville. A big thanks to everyone who took time out and voted.”
The mayor’s office was up for grabs without an incumbent after Joanna Morgan decided against seeking reelection.
Morgan was elected mayor in May 2021 after having been appointed to the seat four months earlier when Scott Saunders abruptly resigned effective Jan. 11, 2021, about two months after having won reelection to the mayor’s office.
Saunders said last year he was stepping down to focus on his family and his growing business after having served as a council member since 2012 before being elected mayor in 2016 and reelected in 2018 and 2020.
In May 2021, Saunders was arrested in Bastrop County on multiple charges of sexual assault and indecency with a child, according to Bastrop County court records.
He was later arrested in June 2021 in Fayette County where he is facing two charges of sexual assault.
A court hearing for Saunders’ charges in Bastrop County is scheduled for May 25.
Morgan, who was first elected to the City Council in 2012 and served as mayor pro tem since 2015, said she last year she planned to retire when her term as mayor expired this month.
In other municipal elections, Cassie Barrientos defeated Dane Garrison for the Place 4 City Council seat with 52% support. Barrientos received 336 votes, while Garrison garnered 305 votes.
Barrientos previously served on the council.
Incumbent Janice Bruno sailed to reelection after running uncontested for the Place 5 seat.
On the Smithville school board, Candice Parsons won reelection after running uncontested for the Place 5 seat.
Josh Magden soundly defeated Margarita Igoe for the Place 6 school board seat. Magden received 903 votes, while Igoe received 420 votes.
In the race for the Place 7 seat, Michael Hancock bested Casey Hanchey. Hancock received 852 votes, while Hanchey received 476.
Bastrop
Bastrop school district voters returned all three incumbents to the board after only one received a challenge and defeated his opponent in an election Saturday.
Bastrop school board president Ashley Mutschink fended off a challenge by Joseph B. Thompson with more than 64% support from voters. Mutschink received 1,966 votes compared to Thompson’s 1,095.
This was Thompson’s second time vying for a seat on the school board after running unsuccessfully last year against incumbent Kellye Seekatz.
School board members Chris Dillon and Matthew Mix were unopposed in their reelection bids.
The city of Bastrop did not hold an election on Saturday after only one candidate filed for each seat up for grabs on the council.
Cheryl Lee will be the city’s first Black female to serve on the council after she is sworn in to the Place 1 seat on Tuesday. John Kirkland will be sworn in to the Place 5 seat.
Elgin
Elgin voters elected a new mayor Saturday after incumbent Ron Ramirez decided against seeking reelection.
Theresa McShan was elected to the city’s highest elected office with over 68% support against Stephanie McBurney Lippke.
McShan received 550 votes, while Lippke garnered 257.
In the Ward 1 council seat, Joy Casnovsky, who received 90 votes, defeated Amanda D. Moore, who received 62 votes.
In the Ward 2 race, YaLecia Love, who received 74 votes, defeated Chuck Swain, who received 68 votes.
In the Ward 3 race, Al Rodriguez, who received 141 votes, defeated Thomas Ibis, who received 68 votes.
In the Ward 4 race, Sue Prinz Brashar, who received 178 votes, defeated Grant Hennig, who received 110 votes.
The election results are unofficial until each local government canvasses the results, which is expected to happen later this month.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Elections: Voters decide races in Bastrop, Smithville, Elgin
