Courtland, Chavez gain council seats; Faison reelected, Davis ousts Byrd

By LYNETTE SOWELL 
Cove Leader-Press

There will be two new Copperas Cove city council members and a December runoff for the mayoral race as a result of Tuesday’s election.
Joann Courtland has been elected to Copperas Cove City Council place 1, and Fred Chavez has been elected to Copperas Cove City Council place 2. There will be a runoff between incumbent Frank Seffrood and Azeita Taylor in the mayoral race. 
Votes for the city election will likely be canvassed on November 20, with Courtland and Chavez being sworn in at the city council’s Dec. 4 meeting. 
For the mayoral race run-off election, early voting will take place Dec. 3-7, with the runoff election day being Tuesday, Dec. 11.
For the CCISD board of trustees, Inez Faison will keep her place 1 position, and S. Ann Davis has been elected to place 2.
The final unofficial results as received from Coryell County Election Administrator Justin Carothers show that Azeita Taylor received 43.26%, or 2,380 votes, with mayoral incumbent Frank Seffrood receiving 47.26%, or 2,600. Joey Acfalle received 9.49%, or 522 votes. 
In the race for Copperas Cove city council Place 1, Joann Courtland received 54.55%, or 2,753 votes, with opponent Cheryl Meredith receiving 45.44%, or 2,293 votes. 
Courtland came out on top of the race against Meredith, who served two prior terms on the city council before being term-limited in 2015. Courtland thanked her supporters and said she was both humbled and grateful.
“I am proud to live in this city and am ready to get my hands dirty tackling the issues ahead of me. let’s put community first,” Courtland said.
In the race for Copperas Cove city council Place 2, incumbent James Pierce Jr. received 45.42 percent, or 2,355 votes, behind challenger Fred Chavez, who outpaced Pierce with 2,830 votes, or 54.58 percent.
Pierce, who gathered with his supporters for a watch party at Grill Daddy’s, took to social media after the results came in. 
He thanked his supporters for their support during his term in office and for Tuesday’s election. 
“I did three years as a councilman here, and I came up short by 420-something votes. On a positive note, when I won last time, I won with 876 votes. This time, I got over 2,000 votes. 2,000 Copperas Cove residents voted for me. I think that’s awesome…but in the end, I came up short.”
Pierce said he’d called Fred Chavez and congratulated him, and he encouraged his supporters to give Chavez their support and make him do his job. 
“Don’t sit back on your laurels and let him do what he wants. We have to stick to our guns and make the city successful.”
Meanwhile, Chavez likewise thanked those who supported him in his bid for the council. 
“I am humbled by this vote of confidence and the trust that has been given me. I’d like to thank James Pierce for a well fought race. He is an honorable man who served his community with all of his heart, and I thank him. Now the work begins. Most of it will be behind the scenes, not flashy, not headline grabbing, just nuts and bolts. We need to lay the groundwork for things that are just around the corner. We must come together to flatten the tax base and make Copperas Cove a center for business and commerce. Working together is not a pipe dream, it is what serious people do to get things done.”
Another incumbent lost his seat on Tuesday in the race for Copperas Cove Independent School District board of trustees place 2, when Harry L. Byrd faced a lineup of three other candidates for the office he has held since 2015. Shameria Ann Davis received 39.64 percent of the votes, outpacing Byrd’s 21.64 percent. The two both came out ahead of candidates Jeff Gorres (19.58 percent) and Joseph Leary (19.14 percent).
Davis said she was surprised at the outcome, but equally excited to serve. 
“I’d like to especially thank the people who exercised their rights to vote and saw fit to vote for me. I’ll definitely make them proud and put my best foot forward,” Davis said. “I look forward to being the advocate I would want to see in an elected position. This is the beginning of something special in my career.”
In Coryell County, 16,103 voters, or 42.3% of its 38,067 voters turned out for the midterm elections. 
Throughout Coryell County, the Republican party dominated in the polls in national and statewide races:
United States Senate, Ted Cruz 67.03%, Beto O’Rourke 31.9%; U.S. House of Representatives, Roger Williams 67.66%, Julie Oliver 30.64%; Governor, Gregg Abbott 70.86%, Lupe Valdez’ 27.53%; Lt Governor, Dan Patrick 66.69%, Mike Collier 30.87%; Attorney General, Ken Paxton 66.12%, Justin Nelson 31.10%; Comptroller of Public Accounts, Glenn Hegar 67.9%; Joi Chevalier 28.68%; Land Commissioner, George P. Bush 68.01%, Miguel Suazo 28.41%; Agriculture Commissioner, Sid Miller 65.96%, Kim Olson 31.23%.
Come Jan. 1, 2019, Coryell County will have a new county judge, a new district court clerk, and a new county treasurer. Roger Miller will be sworn in as the new county judge, with Becky Moore becoming the new district court clerk, and Randi McFarlin becoming the new county treasurer. The three won runoff races for the March primary and like other county office candidates, ran on the Republican ticket and were unopposed.