Llano County Precinct 4 Voters Get a Rare November Choice for Commissioner

This is a preview. The election is Nov. 3, and no results are in yet.

Most Llano County races are settled in the March Republican primary. This year, voters in Precinct 4 have a real choice in November.

Jerry Don Moss, the Republican incumbent, has held the Precinct 4 commissioner seat since 2007. Democrat Leila Green Little is challenging him. According to DailyTrib, it is the only contested local race on the Llano County ballot.

A family connection and an old lawsuit make the race unusual. In March, Moss beat Robert Little, Leila Little's husband, in the Republican primary with 90.78% of the vote. Leila Little ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination. DailyTrib reported that the two filed for the same seat in different parties, both promising change and a challenge to Moss's long tenure.

What the job does

According to DailyTrib's voting guide:

• The Precinct 4 commissioner is one of five voting members of the Llano County Commissioners Court. The court sets county policy and the budget.

• The commissioner also maintains roads, bridges and county-owned infrastructure in the precinct outside city limits.

• Precinct 4 includes the city of Llano and much of western Llano County.

• The term is four years, with no term limits, and the winner takes office in January 2027.

• As of 2026, the salary is $76,036.

The library fight behind the race

Leila Little was a leading plaintiff in a First Amendment lawsuit over county officials and employees removing books from the Llano County Library System, and Moss was a named defendant. According to DailyTrib, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the county and its officials, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal that would have kept the suit alive.

"I am not pleased with how the county has addressed the library system for the last four years," Little told DailyTrib after she filed. "This is a principled stance."

In August she said Moss "has used his words and actions to stoke local culture wars instead of serving our community's best interests in his votes."

Moss pointed to his primary win. "It's good to know that people support what I do," he told DailyTrib in March. In August he said, "I think that the community and Precinct 4 support me and the work I do for this county."

The former Llano County Public Library building, built in 1939 by the Works Progress Administration and now home to the county clerk, in 2016. Photo: Larry D. Moore / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.

What each candidate says he or she will do

In candidate profiles for DailyTrib, Moss said he started at the Llano County Road and Bridge Department at age 22 and later became Precinct 4 crew chief. His platform:

• Keep maintaining and upgrading county roads.

• Listen to the public.

• Upgrade county policies, facilities and infrastructure with the court.

• Work with other governments to secure adequate EMS and law enforcement.

• Keep the tax rate low.

Little, a speech-language pathologist who worked at MD Anderson Cancer Center from 2010 to 2017, listed five goals:

• Fund the county hospital through a hospital district tax.

• Address the pay gap between elected officials and other county employees.

• Video record and archive public meetings.

• Hold public forums on controversial agenda items.

• Fund the library through a library district tax.

DailyTrib streamed an Oct. 6 forum with both candidates, and the video is on its YouTube channel.

Our view

A contested race is good for any county, including one where nearly everything is decided in the spring. Voters get to weigh a 20-year record against a different direction.

The choice is plain. Moss is running on roads, public safety and a low tax rate. Little wants two new taxing districts, along with recorded meetings and more public forums. The library dispute is part of this race, but the job is mostly roads, bridges and the budget. Precinct 4 voters should judge the candidates on that.

Early voting ends Oct. 30, and Election Day is Nov. 3. For the rest of the ballot, see what is on every Texas ballot. For another county's pay debate, read why Montgomery County pays its commissioners so much.