Stromatt caught up in ‘whirlwind’ after Woodlands township board victory
The days after The Woodlands Township Board of Directors election have been a “whirlwind” for new elected township board member Carol Stromatt.
In a campaign that had its nasty moments, Stromatt rode a strong early voting lead to victory and ousted incumbent Laura Fillault for the Position 7 seat on The Woodlands Township Board of Directors.
Stromatt’s win came despite the entry of the political action committee Texas Right to Life into the campaign, with the PAC making thousands of robocalls into The Woodlands about a week before the election on behalf of Fillault. The Houston Association of Realtors and The Texas Patriots PAC had also put their backing behind Fillault.
Still, even with Fillault getting the support of those groups, 2,694 voters, or 54 percent, cast their ballots for Stromatt. Fillault ended up with 2,214 votes, or more than 45 percent.
“I am ecstatic. I am so grateful,” a victorious Stromatt said shortly after getting word she was the winner on election night. “So humbled. I’m here, we are celebrating. This is one for the community.”
Stromatt’s victory came despite the robocall assault that described her as a “pro-abortion liberal Democrat,” a term many voters in the conservative township wouldn’t take to kindly to. The calls also claimed that she gave “money to the radical pro-abortion group Annie’s List.”
The robocall campaign came just days after a fake campaign flier falsely attributed to Stromatt was posted in a Facebook group. The fake flier listed what were clearly false claims about some of Stromatt’s positions.
Stromatt had said she was “disturbed and saddened” by the bogus claims and added her views on the “full spectrum of national
issues” should have “no relevance” to the township race.
“Residents in The Woodlands chose unity and commitment for our community,” Stromatt said Thursday. “They rejected the false character attacks and the ideology of division pushed by the PACs which engaged. My non-partisan stance and reputation for commitment to our community was enthusiastically supported at the polls, because young families and seasoned residents alike want a leader who shows-up for them and maintains our warm and friendly hometown.”
Fillault declined a request to comment for this article, but did provide a statement hours after the final election results were in.
“It has been a pleasure serving The Woodlands Township. Congratulations to Carol Stromatt and I wish her the best of luck.”
LOCAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY CHAIR NOT SURPRISED BY OUTCOME
The chairman of the Montgomery County Democratic Party, Marc Meyer, was not surprised by Stromatt’s win.
“I thought she had a chance from the beginning because we knew this would be a low turnout election and we can put together a GOTV [get out the vote] effort, though to be clear, the Montgomery County Democratic Party was not directly involved in the campaign,” Meyer said. “As for the margin of victory [I can] tell you I was at Election Central on election night observing the process and was shocked at Carol’s lead in the early voting. After the first couple of Woodlands boxes came in, I was sure Carol would win.”
FILLAULT LIKELY HURT BY TWEET CONTROVERSY
Election observers noted that Fillault, who was serving her first term on the township board, was apparently hurt at the polls by a controversy involving a series of posts Fillault made on Twitter during the summer of 2017 where she used profane language against other Twitter users. Fillault is a prolific user of Twitter, often posting or re-Tweeting other messages dozens of times per day.
During a forum hosted by The Woodlands Area Chamber of Commerce in September, Fillault apologized for the abusive language in some of her tweets, saying she hoped that residents would accept her apology and forgive her.
Montgomery County Republican Party Chairman Dr. Walter (Wally) Wilkerson said he believed the profane Tweets didn’t help Fillault’s cause.
“She made some bad errors,” Wilkerson said, in speaking of the tweets. “I’m sure that she apologized for that but once it’s out there, it’s out there. I do feel bad for her. [But] if you live in one of the most Republican areas in the country and you can’t beat a liberal Democrat, then that’s something else again.”
Meyer agreed the series of Tweets over the summer hurt Fillault’s campaign.
“I think it is likely the Tweets cost her the election,” Meyer said. “But there was also a bunch of negative campaigning by groups that supported Ms. Fillault, such as the robocalls by Texas Right to Life and public statements by Eric Yollick, Reagan Reed and Paul Geboyls added to a general negative tone from Carol’s opponent. Based on the conversations I have had with some of Carol’s volunteers, I believe the general negative tone of Fillault’s campaign after she realized that Carol was a viable candidate sealed her fate.”
Although Fillault did not respond to a request for comment on the controversial tweets, Fillault supporter John LeFevre, who was working on election night in support of the incumbent, agreed the matter cost her votes.
“Yes, it did hurt her,” LeFevre said Thursday. “Carol’s team made a big point of highlighting it.”
With the election now over, Stromatt, who has lived in The Woodlands for nearly 20 years, has said she will be focusing on “solutions to the mobility challenges” and other issues, including possible incorporation of The Woodlands Township.
The possibility of The Woodlands becoming a city was also brought up during the election, with those attacking Stromatt claiming she would push to have The Woodlands become a “sanctuary city.”
Stromatt denied those claims.
“I have never made a statement for or against sanctuary cities, and at this time I think it would be irresponsible for anyone to speculate what will happen if or when The Woodlands becomes a city,” she said.
Stromatt, like all township board directors, will serve a two-year term. The board members serve as volunteers, with no compensation. She is scheduled to be sworn in and take office at the Wednesday, Nov. 29, meeting of the township’s Board of Directors. Also retaining their board seats for another term following the Nov. 7 election were incumbents John McMullan and Ann Snyder, who were not challenged in the race.