Incumbents win in Bridge City, Orange

Incumbent members of Bridge City's school board and city council won their bids for reelections in results announced after the close of voting Saturday.

Current Place 2 councilman Mike Reed defeated former councilman Carl Harbert 631 votes to 517 (55% to 45%) and Bridge City school board president Rebecca Hall Rutledge won 71.8% of the vote (1,525-600) over Peggy Prosperie in the only two contested BC races with a sitting incumbent.

For Bridge City Council Place 4, former BCISD board member Patty Collins won 67.2% of the vote (813-397) to defeat Kenneth Prosperie, and for Place 6, Sherby Dixon won 61.7% of the votes (726-451), beating Mike Boyd.

Other uncontested Bridge City seats on the May 7 ballot were Mayor David Rutledge and, on the BCISD board, Thad Hill (Place Four) and Jerry McInnis (Place 5).

The only contested mayor's race in the county was in Pinehurst, where Sarah McClendon, the current mayor pro-tem, won with 69.6% of the votes cast (94-41) over councilman Johnny Asevedo.

Asevedo's council seat is not up for reelection until 2023.

In Orange, incumbent city councilwoman Mary McKenna avoided a potential runoff in a three-candidate Place 4 race by grabbing 58.7%, or 189 of the 322 votes cast.

Dwain Boullard won 113 votes (35.1%) while Richard G. Pillsbury won 20 votes (6.2%).

Place 5 on Orange's city council was won by incumbent Caroline Mazzola Hennigan, who polled 61.8% (693-428) over Charles Thomas.

The three incumbents up for reelection in a six-way free-for-all for three West Orange-Cove school board at-large seats won reelection.

Demetrius D. Hunter won 565 votes, Gina Simar 541 and school board president Linda Faye Platt-Bryant 486 votes. Challengers Erick Guillory (422 votes), Donny Teate Jr. (402) and John Allen Jefferson Jr. (270) followed.

Voters were allowed to vote for three candidates in the WOCCISD board election.

Vidor's Ward Three City Council election will require a runoff as no candidate in a three-man race was able to reach a 50 percent plus one majority of the vote.

Ronnie Herrera won 43.2% of the vote (232), to 33.7% for Michael Thompson (181), to 23.1% for Jerry E. Aldridge (124 votes).

Gary Herrera squeezed past Anthony Foster in the Vidor Ward Five council race, 50.3% to 49.7%. The three-vote margin could result in a recount once Saturday's totals are finalized next week by the Orange County Elections Administration Office.

Nicole G. McGowan won the Ward Two election in Vidor with 74.8% of the vote (385-130) over Chris Arndt.

For Vidor school board, Kimberly Mahana Crossley won Position 1 706-521 versus Paul Davis; David Camp won 791 votes for Position Three over Lance Loftin's 424 votes; Gina VanDevender racked up 807 votes against 419 for Jalissa Green-Droddy in Position 4; and Mike Marion was a 702-525 winner over Rodney White for Position 5.