‘I will not let you down’

Supporters from across District 17 were on hand Tuesday night at the Bella Sera restaurant in Lockhart to watch the vote totals roll in. At approximately 8:55 p.m., the majority of ballots had been counted and the residents of the five-county district selected John Cyrier as their next state representative.

“Unbelievable journey. This has been something else,” said Cyrier as he and his wife, Rachelle, gathered at the front of their audience to deliver his acceptance speech.

Cyrier started the night ahead in the early voting totals and never relinquished the lead.

Even though a numbers glitch from the Secretary of State’s office reversed Karnes County’s tally and a strong showing from his opponent from counties to the north put people on edge, the affair remained festive. Supporters kept a close eye on their smartphones as the boxes came in and the vote numbers were reported online.

Once the unofficial numbers came in, Cyrier won with 52.06 percent of the vote to Brent Golemon’s 47.93 percent. Only 329 votes separated the two.

“There’s so many people that came out and put so much into this thing,” Cyrier said. “I appreciate those that stood with us. We all stuck together and did the right thing and kept our heads up.”

Cyrier was able to sustain a late surge in negative campaign mailers that attempted to paint him as cozy with developers and chastised him for refusing to answer a former opponent’s candidate survey. And it seemed to have worked in two counties.

In Bastop and Lee Counties, where much money was spent alarming voters about a supposed “water grab” by Cyrier, voters sided overwhelmingly with Golemon. Lee County checked in with 751 votes for Golemon and 302 for Cyrier, and the more suburban Bastrop gave 2,318 votes to Golemon and 1,692 to Cyrier.

That left three counties where Cyrier had to make up his lead.

In his home base of Caldwell County, Cyrier did as expected, winning over the hometown crowd with 1,119 votes to Golemon’s 485.

The toss-up was the rural counties to the south, Gonzales and Karnes, where Cyrier and his camp decided that they would need to have a strong showing to counter his opponent’s saturation in Bastrop and Lee counties. And, he got it.

Karnes County gave the largest point spread to Cyrier, with 83.86 percent or 473 voters choosing him and 16.13 percent or 91 voters siding with Golemon. Gonzales County came in second in the percentage category, with 76.28 percent or 563 voters picking Cyrier to Golemon’s 23.71 percent or 175 votes.

In the end, it appeared that Cyrier’s attention to the rural counties of the district, his robust supporters list of area farm, school, civic and business leaders and his positions on pressing issues were what convinced voters that he was the right candidate to represent District 17 in the 84th Texas Legislature.

His acceptance speech to those assembled thanked the people and organizations that banded together across county lines to see his campaign through. He even acknowledged the peril that some went through, putting their names on the line as a public supporter of his. In closing, he gave his word to do the best he could to honor their support.

“I promise you this, I will not let you down,” he said. “I’m gonna continue to do the right thing. I will continue to work hard, and I will continue to rely on you guys, I will continue to go to you guys and ask for help.”

As the well-wishers trickled out, it was time to get to work. His incoming chief-of-staff, MeLissa Nemecek, was on hand to greet her new boss. Together, they sat at a table, going over a to-do list like a student preparing for his first day of college.

Wednesday, Mr. Cyrier would be headed to the Capitol.