Garden Ridge’s May 2 election changed three seats after 596 ballots put Kelly Smith, Jim Hunter and Brian Reyes atop the published totals; the May 11 record then called for canvass, certificates and oaths.
Garden Ridge voters filled three City Council seats in an election that drew 596 ballots from 3,725 registered voters, a 16% turnout. That figure measures participation across the city’s single reporting precinct, not the share of voters who marked every council race.
Smith received 478 votes unopposed; Hunter received 360 votes to Jesús Valdez’s 234; and Reyes received 391 votes to Chance Boughamer’s 185. Hunter’s share was 60.61% of votes cast in Place 4, while Reyes received 67.88% in Place 5, according to the packet’s cumulative results.
The turnout report divides the 596 ballots into 27 absentee ballots, 430 early-voting ballots and 139 Election Day ballots. The race-by-race totals differ because the packet records 118 undervotes in Place 1, two in Place 4 and 20 in Place 5. It records no overvotes in those races.
The packet’s election-result pages carry the label Unofficial Results. The May 11 agenda supplies the procedural bridge: item 4.1 called for the council to canvass the May 2 result and declare it, and item 4.2 called for certificates and oaths for Smith, Hunter and Reyes. That sequence matters because a posted tally and a council canvass are different stages of the election record.
The agenda then called for the council to elect a mayor pro tem through May 2027, designate signers for First United Bank accounts and authorize advertising for Paul Davis Park trail bids. Those items would shape who could act for the city after the new terms began and start the procurement step for the park work. Comal.News later reported on the Paul Davis Park trail-bid notice.
Residents checking the source trail can use the election packet for vote totals and turnout, the agenda for the numbered actions placed before council, and the CivicClerk event record for the city’s published packet, minutes file and official video. The event record is the most useful index for following the meeting package. Its video link also lets readers watch the public session in sequence, although direct quotations require separate verification.