Whitis defeats Lorette for sheriff
County Democrats prefer Hillary Clinton to Barack Obama
By DAVID LOWE Staff Writer

David Whitis

David Whitis defeated Joe Lorette for Lampasas County sheriff 1,549 votes to 946 Tuesday night. Whitis took 62 percent of the vote to Lorette's 38 percent.

"I just don't even know how to explain it right now," Whitis said Tuesday night. "I'm just extremely appreciative of everybody who supported me and voted for me."

Whitis said he has been honored to work with outgoing Sheriff Gordon Morris and will continue working closely with and learning from his mentor as Whitis prepares for his new role.

"He's been the best sheriff, the best boss and the best person to work with," Whitis said of Morris.

Whitis topped Lorette in seven of the 10 voting precincts, including Precinct 8, a Kempner-area precinct. Lorette had been expecting strong support in Kempner and Lometa.

Lorette won Precinct 7, which included Lometa, by a tally of 122 votes to 37. He also claimed Precinct 6, which voted at Nix, by a total of 34 votes to Whitis' 25 votes.

Lorette claimed 56 votes in Precinct 10, which also included Kempner residents, to top Whitis' 40 votes.

Whitis' biggest margin of victory came in Precinct 2, which he won 209 to 68. Whitis won Precincts 2, 3 and 4, all of which voted at First United Methodist Church.

Lorette said Tuesday night he had not had a chance to analyze box-by-box results but guessed turnout in the county's east end was not as high as he had hoped.

"Of course, the east end has a high military population, and they don't feel like a part of the community because, to a large extent, they're not treated like one," Lorette said. "I think a lot of people just didn't make it to the polls."

While 29 percent of registered voters in Precinct 6 cast ballots and Precincts 7 and 9 both topped 21 percent, both Kempner-area precincts recorded 13 percent turnout or less.

Lorette said he has not decided what employment to pursue in the wake of the election.

"I think we realized there was a voice out there that can challenge the status quo," he said. "I really feel bad for the people of this county."

Democratic voters in Lampasas County cast 899 ballots for Hillary Clinton, compared to 672 votes for Barack Obama. Mrs. Clinton's total represented 56 percent of the county Democratic vote, compared to Obama's 42 percent.

In the statewide race, Mrs. Clinton claimed 51 percent of the vote, and Obama took 47 percent.

County Republican voters preferred John McCain to Mike Huckabee by a margin of 59 percent to 30 percent. McCain received 1,477 votes to Huckabee's 748. Ron Paul received 125 votes, or 5 percent of Republican votes cast in the county.

McCain won 51 percent of the Texas Republican vote, while Huckabee claimed 38 percent. Paul got 5 percent of the total.

Lampasan Dale Henry will face Mark Thompson of Hamilton on April 8 in a Democratic runoff election for railroad commissioner. Thompson claimed 48 percent of the Texas vote, compared to Henry's 28 percent. Art Hall got 24 percent.

Henry won the Lampasas County primary, though, recording 748 votes, or 57 percent, compared to Thompson's 417 votes, or 32 percent. Hall tallied 12 percent locally with 159 votes.

Republicans in Lampasas County cast 1,732 votes for incumbent U.S. Senator John Cornyn and 528 votes for Larry Kilgore. Cornyn claimed 77 percent of the Lampasas County vote to Kilgore's 23 percent. Cornyn won the state vote with 81 percent to Kilgore's 19 percent.

In the Democratic Senate primary, Lampasas County voters cast 420 ballots, or 33 percent, for Rick Noriega and 381, or 30 percent, for Gene Kelly. Rhett Smith claimed 21 percent with 266 votes, and Ray McMurrey got 16 percent with 204 votes. Noriega won the state with 51 percent.

Lampasas County Democratic voters cast 843 votes, or 69 percent, for Sam Houston for the Texas Supreme Court, Place 7. Baltasar Cruz took 374 votes, or 31 percent, in Lampasas County. Houston won the state with 56 percent to Cruz's 44 percent.

Susan Criss won the Democratic primary in Lampasas County for the Texas Supreme Court, Place 8, claiming 70 percent of the vote with 853 ballots. Linda Reyna Yanez took 369 votes, or 30 percent, in Lampasas County.

Ms. Yanez took the state primary, though, winning 51 percent of the total vote.

In the Republican primary for Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 4, Paul Womack won Lampasas County with 1,152 votes, or 61 percent. Challenger Robert Francis recorded 751 votes, or 39 percent in Lampasas County. Womack won the state with 69 percent of the vote.

On Ballot Initiative 1, which states that federal, state and local officials should be required to enforce U.S. immigration laws, 96 percent of Republicans in Lampasas County and statewide voted "yes."

Ballot Initiative 2, which states the Texas Legislature should require voters to provide photo indentification to cast a ballot in Texas, passed 92 percent to 8 percent in Lampasas County. Statewide, 94 percent of Republican voters voted "yes" on the initiative.

Ninety-one percent of Lampasas County Republicans voted in favor of Ballot Initiative 3, which passed with 92 percent of the vote statewide. The initiative said every governmental body in Texas should have to limit any annual increase in its budget and spending to the combined increase of population and inflation, except in cases of emergency or if voters approve the increase.

Democrats cast 1,125 total votes for Daniel Melder for Lampasas County Democratic Party chairman. He will replace Keith King, who has served in the post several years. B.R. "Skipper" Wallace will continue to head the Lampasas County Republican Party.