How a 19 year old with no experience beat an incumbent for political office

KXAN ^ | 11/11/22 | Sam Stark

[Round Earther]

Beverly Crumley has 30 years of experience in the Hays County District Clerk’s Office....

This year, Crumley ran for reelection and lost by just over two percentage points or around 2,500 votes. The candidate who Hays County voters elected to be their next district clerk spent $0 on his campaign, has no experience in a political office and only just recently graduated high school. His name is Avery Anderson....

Before running for district clerk, Anderson worked full-time at a gas station down the road from his house where he lives with his mom....

According to county documents, the Hays County District Clerk’s 2021 salary was just over $87,000....

[Robert DeLong]

Avery Anderson poses for a photo with Beto O’Rourke, Democratic candidate for Governor of Texas. (Photo provided by Avery Anderson)

“A lot of people, generally speaking, just click a ‘D’ or an ‘R’ when they’re in the voting booth,” Anderson said.

Crumley ran as a Republican, and Anderson as a Democrat.

“I feel like a lot [of voters] did not research the local races to gain knowledge on the qualifications of the candidates,” Crumley said. “I think it is uninformed voters just making decisions based on political affiliation is what it is.”

[RetiredTexasVet]

Not that uncommon ... a lot of D’s run as R’s to get elected...they are known as swamp rats and rinos.

[TigerClaws]

If they’ll vote for dead people...

[algore]

I heard about this win and wondered.

It will be a real wake up call for the kid. It will be interesting to see if he runs again or decides he would rather work a real job instead of mucking through the swamp

[Fuzz]

Are there a lot of people here who crossover and vote for democrats?

[bankwalker]

probably more than we think ...

[KC Burke]

Shut your mouth Jefferson.

[TigerClaws]

Not on FR.

I’ve voted all R my entire adult life.

I even held my nose and voted for McCain and Romney. I know some on this board did not vote or voted third party for that general election.

[Fuzz]

How many would admit it without qualifying it with, I was young and stupid?

[The Truth Will Make You Free]

I’m going with democratic fraud, illegals voting, or other criminal activities… at least until proven otherwise.

[SPDSHDW]

We’re going to do the same thing real quick, if anyone wants to have a chance at honest elections again.

[Cen-Tejas]

I was born in San Marcos, Hays County, Texas.

A District Clerk job is pure drudgery. I don’t think Avery is going to like it.

[Spktyr]

I have read a piece that noted Crumley ran a poor, Cruz-2018-style campaign and took the base for granted.

If so, Crumley got what she deserved.

[Spktyr]

You should also add “criminal stupidity” - there’s more than a few Republicans in Texas that take that for granted and have their entire campaign mostly consist of literally, “I’m a Republican and you should vote for me!” without any supporting statements or anything.

There are no safe seats any more and *every* campaign now has to be run like this is your first run against an incumbent who’s up in the polls. Fail to do that and you will increasingly fail of election.

[Round Earther]

The lawyers and judges in Hays County are not going to be amused by the incompetence of a 19 year old county clerk.

However, I expect it will not be easy to remove him from office.

[Robert DeLong]

His salary will jump to 87,000 per year. Think he made anywhere near that working at a gas station? 😋

[Robert DeLong]

I’ve never voted for a Democrat, even when I was young and stupid. 😋

[fella]

The vast majority of citizens rely on our media to inform them about the candidates in our elections. For the most part this means that hardly anyone knows anything about the candidates below the top tier.

[Round Earther]

Not a bad gig for a 19 year old kid.