Things Gets Interesting At First Political Forum

The first of three political forums hosted by the Fayette County Republican Party (FCRP) took place Sunday, Jan. 28, at the KC Hall in Schulenburg.

FCRP invited all of the candidates in the local contested primary election races for Pct. 3 Constable, Pct. 4 Constable, County and District Attorney and Fayette County Republican Party Chair. All except for one participated in the forum. Robert Chambers, the incumbent Pct. 3 Constable, did not attend.

The County and District Attorney Race has attracted the most attention, and that portion of the forum got a little heated. James Herbrich, the assistant county attorney who’s running to replace his outgoing boss, Peggy Supak, took aim at his opponent’s lack of experience in prosecuting criminal cases. His opponent, Mark Elvig, said he’s running to give voters a choice for county attorney – a choice, he said, that voters have not had in decades.

“Let me make one thing clear,” Elvig said. “I am not running for Mr. Herbrich’s job. He has experience. He has training. He has all of that stuff. I’m not running for the position of assistant county attorney. I want to be the county attorney who manages the department, to build a team of experienced people.”

“This is a small office,” Herbrich said. “Management is not really a function we do in this office. It’s actually doing the work. We have two assistants, and I’m one of them … Unlike my opponent who’s harping on management, if you take this job on Jan. 1, 2025, you better know the penal code. You better know the family code. You better know the juvenile justice code.”

Later, when asked about what kinds of programs or policies they would implement to reduce crime in the County, Elvig brought up the recent case of Rafael Govea Romero, the Schulenburg man accused of murdering 16-yearold Lizbeth Medina in Edna. Romero had been previously arrested for burglary in Fayette County.

“He was picked up in Fayette County for a burglary of a habitation charge, plead out to no jail time, and went down to Edna and murdered a 16-yearold,” Elvig said. “Why did that happen? I’m just asking that question. I want to get answers and try to prevent a situation like that.”

Herbrich responded by calling Elvig’s comments “reckless.”

“Let me tell you about that case,” Herbrich said. “That was a burglary of a habitation. It wasn’t a case where someone kicked in a door and someone was in a house. It was a construction site. An air compressor and two windows were stolen from a (construction) site. The individual who did that was an illegal. He was prosecuted for the highest possible charge. Not a misdemeanor theft, but a burglary of a habitation. He received five years of county probation and he’s looking at the maximum punishment if he violates his probation, which is 20 years. Because he is an illegal, he is now deportable. And he should have been deported by the federal government.”

Watch the live broadcast of the forum on our Facebook Page, www.facebook.com/fcr. news. The video will also appear on our YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/@ Fayettecountyrecord.

More on the forums in Friday’s newspaper.