Austin County residents filled the Banquet Room at Tony’s Family Restaurant in Sealy last Thursday, Jan. 6, to hear from various candidates for March 1’s Republican Primary Election.

The Republican Candidate Forum hosted by the Austin County Republican Party (ACRP) saw approximately 70 guests in attendance to hear candidates and campaign representatives for County Commissioner Precinct 4, Texas House District 85 Representative, Texas Commissioner of Agriculture, Texas Governor and Texas Land Commissioner.

ACRP Chair Chuck Beers served as the event moderator where he introduced each speaker and selected guests from the audience with questions for the candidates.

Precinct 4 Commissioner

The only local contested race for the Republican Primaries in March is for the office of Austin County Commissioner Precinct 4, and both candidates Garry Kuciemba and incumbent Chip Reed were present at the forum.

Kuciemba spoke first and introduced himself as a seasoned Austin County resident with 10 years of criminal justice experience where he managed up to 12 supervisors and 350 inmates at one time. Kuciemba emphasized several relevant personality traits he possessed including persistence, punctuality and a hands-on approach to projects. Kuciemba supported his claims of punctuality and dedication when he said he has been a member of the Frydek Knights of Columbus since the charter was founded and hadn’t missed a meeting in 21 years.

During his address, Kuciemba explained that some of his concerns included cleaning out Allens Creek and increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of road construction projects.

“Anybody in Precinct 4 that has any complaints, I want to be the one called. Don’t call the foreman, call me. I’m going to come out there and talk with y’all and get these problems solved between both of us,” said Kuciemba. “Then I’ll let my foreman know what’s going on, I won’t have the burden on him alone.”

Incumbent Chip Reed started with his experience working for Austin County since 2000 through several positions including a heavy equipment operator, Precinct 4 Foreman and eventually Precinct 4 Commissioner.

During the address, Reed explained that he had been involved in numerous local boards and organizations including Rails to Trails Conservancy, Houston Galveston Area Council (HGAC) and others. Reed emphasized his experience pursuing grants to help the county afford infrastructure projects.

“In the last three years, I’ve tried to do everything possible to save this county money. The one thing I found is to go after grants,” said Reed. “I try to go after every kind of grant that we can, from tire recycling to household chemical waste to drainage issues.”

Reed stated numerous projects he hopes to work on soon including the Svoboda Road Bridge, the Peters San Felipe bridge, and several others.

State Representative District 85

The final group of candidates to speak at last Thursday’s forum were all four State Representative District 85 candidates that will appear on March 1’s Republican Primary ballot.

As of the March 1 Primaries, Austin County is included in State Representative District 85 following bills enacted during the 87th Legislature, 3rd Called Session. Before the legislature that rearranged the districts, Austin County was represented by Ben Leman in House District 13.

Fred Roberts, Artemio “Art” Hernandez, Stan Kitzman and incumbent Phil Stephenson each had an opportunity to make their case for the Texas House of Representatives position.

Roberts was the first to address the audience; the insurance agent emphasized his passion for education and shared his 28 years of experience on the Pasadena ISD School Board. Roberts’ points of emphasis included being a voice of reason on the Texas House of Representatives and setting education as a priority.

Hernandez spoke next and introduced himself to the audience as an educator with a Master’s degree in Education. Some of Hernandez’s points of emphasis included increasing state patrol officers on I-10, fighting Critical Race Theory in schools and making education a top priority.

Kitzman followed and started by explaining the size of House District 85 and many of the communities represented within. Kitzman directly addressed border insecurity as a point of emphasis.

Incumbent Phil Stephenson introduced himself last and explained the value of seniority as a House of Representatives member and listed his experience as District 85 Representative since 2013. Stephenson addressed property tax relief, the Heartbeat Bill, the Lection Integrity Bill and other stances he held.

The event ended when Beers encouraged the guests to attend the next ACRP Forum Jan. 24 in Bellville. Stay tuned to The Sealy News for continued coverage of the March 1 Primary Election and visit sealynews.com for more coverage from this forum.