Election season is in full swing. Early voting begins on February 18 and Election Day is March 4. Last weekend a candidate forum was held at the Alpine Independent School District Auditorium featuring candidates running for county judge, district clerk, county clerk, county treasurer, county commissioner, and justice of the peace.
Even though the forum featured many candidates, much of the focus was on the race for Brewster County Judge. That position is being vacated by Val Beard, who is retiring after over 10 years of service. The three Democratic candidates vying for the position are Kathy Killingsworth, Jerry Sotello and Eleazar Cano.
Each of the candidates shared their vision for the future of Brewster County.
“So what we have to do is provide a lot of service for very few funds," said Killingsworth. "I would also like to maintain our fiscal stability and also try to build some capacity in our reserves. One catastrophic event could wipe us out so I think we need build that base for financial stability."
Killingsworth then passed the microphone to current justice of the peace Jerry Sotello, who indicated a desire to provide south county residents with greater access to county services as well as bringing more mental health resources to the region.
Like Killingsworth and Sotello, Cano said should he be elected his first priority would be serving the residents of Brewster county.
“My vision for Brewster county is having Brewster county being the flagship county in the state of Texas," said Cano. "I’m a pretty good coach. I’ve done a lot of job coaching, personal coaching. Bringing [it] back to this position, I think I would be a pretty good position to help folks around me be at their best.”
The forum wrapped up after each candidate reiterated their qualifications and thanked audience members for attending and for providing questions. The voters will decide who gets the job in three weeks.