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Speaking from his Las Casas restaurant in Temple on Tuesday night, Sheffield said he wasn’t surprised by the wide margin of victory. Sheffield said pounding the pavement, knocking on doors, staying on message and endorsements from former opponents John Alaniz and Mike Pearce paid big dividends at the ballot box.
“I worked harder than any candidate out there,” Sheffield said. “I worked every neighborhood. If I couldn’t get to them because the driveway was too long, I made a personal phone call. I’m talking about Troy, Salado, Bartlett, Holland, 402 district out by Youngsport.”
The contentious race between longtime local businessman Sheffield and former city council member Martha Tyroch featured on candidates’ Web sites and campaign ads everything from babies to booze, to chocolates to tax liens.
Sheffield said he ran a positive campaign and was going to work to unite the Republican Party to defeat Democratic nominee Sam Murphey. Sheffield said he didn’t expect the runoff’s negative connotation to spill over into the fall general election.
“Sam Murphey is a very dear friend and I wish the best for Sam, but Sheffield is going to win in November,” he said.
Ms. Tyroch did not return calls for comment, however, her campaign manager, Steven Shar, issued an e-mail statement.
“The voters have spoken and I look forward to the next chapter in my long history of service to Bell County. I ran a tough campaign addressing the issues important to our community’s future - taxes, transportation, protecting the rights of local property owners and economic development. I wish the best for Ralph and his family. I hope now our Republican voters can come together and find common ground to tackle these issues facing District 55.”
Voter turnout Tuesday was far below the March 4 primary. Only 6,617 Republicans voted Tuesday, compared to 14,250 in the primary. And both Sheffield and Tyroch received less total votes Tuesday with Sheffield dropping from 4,433 to 4,202 votes, and Ms. Tyroch dropping from 5,147 to 2,415.
Sheffield will face Murphey and Libertarian Chris Lane in November’s general election.
The District 55 Republican race started benignly last fall, after longtime representative Dianne White Delisi announced she would not seek re-election.
In the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s runoff election, both candidates turned up their rhetoric on the Internet and in campaign ads.
Ms. Tyroch’s camp accused Sheffield of hiring illegal aliens, “forging signatures” and “making wildly absurd charges” regarding babies. Her Web site features a moneybag with the caption “The delinquent tax history of Ralph Sheffield!”
At the same time, a speaker at a Sheffield press conference said Tyroch was lavishly spending taxpayer money by taking advantage of her position on the city council to charge alcohol and hotel expenses to the city. His Web site said Ms. Tyroch was spreading financial “horrors” about his past.
In the only other runoff election Tuesday, Bell county Democrats chose Mark Thompson - 54.44 percent - over Dale Henry - 45.56 percent - for railroad commissioner Democratic nominee.
Tuesday’s unofficial District 55 runoff results
Sheffield: 4,202 - 63.5 %
Tyroch 2,415 - 36.5 %