November 3rd, 2009
Thomaides wins easily; Thomason headed to runoff with Coppoletta

by BRAD ROLLINS
Managing Editor

Place 6 San Marcos City Council member John Thomaides easily won election to a third full term, garnering 1,228 votes, or 63.6 percent, against two challengers with all ballot boxes reported.

Meanwhile, home builder Ryan Thomas appears likely to face Lisa Marie Coppoletta in a run-off after falling three votes short of winning an outright majority in the Place 5 race. He won 960 votes, or 49.9 percent, against Coppoletta’s 504 votes (26.2 percent) and Shaune C. Maycock’s 460 votes (23.9 percent).

Speaking his campaign watch party at J’s Bistro, Thomason said he was prepared for a runoff versus Coppoletta even though out-of-state and overseas ballots might nudge his lead over the 50 percent mark.

“I had a great deal of help from the police and firefighters and my friends and family who worked their butt off for me. Let’s do it again,” Thomason said.

In the Place 6 race, Monica Garcia won 560 votes, or 28.0 percent, and Anita Fuller won 95 votes, or 7.74 percent, in their bids to unseat Thomaides.

The returns reinforced two San Marcos electoral traditions: Low turnout in off-year contests and narrow margins.

In both races, 2,049 ballots were cast out of 28,883, or a little more than 7 percent. In 2007, the last city election that did not coincide with presidential and statewide races, 2,607 residents voted. By comparison, 12,882 voted last year in the mayoral election, a race that coincided with a number of high-profile national and local elections. In that race, Mayor Susan Narvaiz avoided a runoff by nine votes; in 2007, Jude Prather lost to incumbent Gaylord Bose by three.

Real-time election results:

» Follow poll returns on The Mercury

Elsewhere on the Internet:

» Hays County Elections Office Web site