Newcomer Larry Gonzales says he won his campaign with a clear, conservative message to the voters of Williamson County: create jobs and control spending. His negative campaign focused on the record of his opponent, Democrat incumbent Diana Maldonado.
About his campaign, Gonzales said, “If it's true and if it's relevant, then it's not negative. That's the rules we play by. And everything we said was true and everything we said was very relevant, so it's fair game.”
Maldonado called it dirty campaigning. In her speech to supporters, she thanked staff and volunteers. She never conceded to Gonzales.
“Williamson County just experienced one of the most dirtiest campaigns, one of the most slimiest campaigns and it started with the Republican primary and it didn't let up,” Maldonado told supporters. “And that's something that Williamson County has to come back and look at, what values what integrity, and hold Mr. Gonzales accountable because he made promises that quite frankly he's not going to be able to keep.”
Maldonado touted her many accomplishments as Williamson County's first Latina state representative, including the creation of jobs, improvement to education and construction of roads. She was the first Democrat to unseat Republicans after 16 years, back in 2008.
Gonzales says it's now time for him to focus on the future, but not without thanking the people who helped him get here.
“We've had a lot of wonderful people who've worked very hard for this,” Gonzales said. “This is not so much about me. It's about this party, conservative principles, and people came out to help us out, they did a great job and here we are!”
Gonzales says he's ready to get to work. The two major issues he wants to tackle first are creation of jobs and conserving spending. For now, Gonzales and his fellow Williamson County Republicans are savoring victory.
