In Llano County, a husband and wife are running against each other for the same commissioner seat, turning a battle over the public library system into a family affair.
Robert Little, running as a Republican, and Democrat Leila Green Little are both challenging longtime Precinct 4 Commissioner Jerry Don Moss (R), who has served nearly 20 years on the Llano County Commissioners Court.
According to Moss, at the center of this challenge is the Llano County library system. “They’ve kind of already started their library talks about how we’re bad because we don’t want dirty books in our library, especially in the children’s section of our library,” he told Texas Scorecard.
Leila Green Little, alongside others, is a plaintiff in a federal lawsuit that claimed the county violated residents’ First Amendment rights by removing sexually explicit children’s books from the public library system.
In May, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected those claims, ruling that while the Constitution sometimes protects a right to receive private speech, it does not create a “brave new right to receive information from the government in the form of taxpayer‑funded library books.”
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal, leaving the county’s removals in place.
In his campaign announcement, Robert Little wrote that he is running because he believes the commissioners have “gotten the county involved in several lawsuits” and “brought national shame upon our community” while voting for salary increases. He has tied his bid to broader dissatisfaction with how the commissioners court has handled the library controversy and other county business.
Moss pushed back on claims that the commissioners court had “destroyed” the library system. “We’re fully staffed, and while we haven’t bought new books recently, that’s about to change,” he said, referencing a recent budget allocation for library acquisitions in anticipation of the lawsuit’s resolution.
He also highlighted his record on taxes and infrastructure issues, saying he has worked to maintain low tax rates, manage road maintenance, and care for county employees. “There’s no way you can please everyone, but honesty and hard work go a long way.”
The Littles did not respond to Texas Scorecard’s request for comment.
Texas Scorecard asked both the Llano County Democrat chair and the Republican chair if either had ever seen a couple run against each other for a seat.
Jessica McRee-Grabert, the GOP chairwoman, confirmed that both Moss and Robert Little had met all the criteria to be on the March Republican Primary ballot. She declined to comment on either candidate, describing her role as a neutral overseer of the process.
Richard Day, the Democrat chair, wrote, “I know [the Littles] quite well, and they are both wonderful people. Either of them would be an enormous improvement over the incumbent County Commissioner, who, among other things, attempted to trade the County’s public library for an agricultural arena and a tractor.”
The trade Day referenced involved a proposal to transfer multiple properties between the county and City of Llano. At a Sept. 6, 2022, Llano City Council meeting, city officials discussed a possible property swap with the county that could have turned the library building into a new city hall if the county agreed to trade it. The mayor later told KVUE the library building was “not being considered, just discussed,” and was no longer part of any potential deal.
The primary elections will take place on March 3, 2026.
