Hays County Democrats took the rare step of deposing a countywide incumbent officeholder, replacing County Judge Elizabeth Sumter on the ticket with Pct. 2 Commissioner Jeff Barton in Tuesday’s primary election.

Hays County Judge Elizabeth Sumter debates fellow Democratic Party challenger Pct. 2 Commissioner Jeff Barton at the San Marcos Area League of Women Voter’s debate on Feb. 11.

Campaigning in San Marcos on Saturday, gubernatorial candidate Bill White scoffed at his Democratic Party primary opponent’s recent claim that White’s mention of his San Antonio birthplace in campaign commercials is racist.

With election season upon her, County Judge Elizabeth Sumter has mustered a passion for fiscal discipline, holding up road and building projects that have been in the works for years and which she funded in her proposed budget just months ago.

San Marcos business owner Peggy Jones, who has been campaigning since August, has filed to run for Hays County Judge as a Republican.

Hays County Pct. 2 Commissioner Jeff Barton today announced a bid for county judge, making official an intra-Democratic Party showdown with incumbent Elizabeth Sumter.

Hays County Judge Elizabeth Sumter’s on-again, off-again relationship with a regional planning group appears to be on again after a nominating committee of her peers reconsidered a decision to eject her from the Capital Area Council of Governments executive committee.

Officials will keep secret a list of 15 properties being offered to Hays County as the cornerstone of a habitat conservation plan and parks and open space acquisition.

Appealing a decision they say creates more problems than those it purports to resolve, the Hays County Commissioners Court in a letter on Thursday asked the Texas Commission on Jail Standards to reconsider its order earlier this month to close the Hays County jail kitchen.

San Marcos surgeon and physician Dr. Bert Cobb today announced his Republican primary candidacy for Hays County judge.