Primary Election Results for Northeast Texas

These are unofficial final numbers for Tuesday’s primary elections for Hunt, Hopkins, Delta, Fannin, Lamar and Rains counties, as well as some regional races.

Hunt County:

Several incumbents earned at least a chance at another term in November after Tuesday’s political party primary elections.

In Hunt County, Incumbent Republicans Noble Walker and Joel Littlefield ran unopposed, along with Incumbent Republican F. Duncan Thomas as County Court at Law Judge Number 2. The republican nomination for sheriff went to incumbent Randy Meeks, who received 60 percent of the vote. Challenger Richard Hill received 40 percent. Meeks may face an independent candidate in the November general election.

Richard Beacom has won re-election to judge of the 354thDistrict Court, defeating challengers Ray Hopson and Keith Willeford in both Hunt and Rains counties, at more than 51 percent in each county.

Four republican races in Hunt County will be decided in a runoff election on July 31, after no candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote.

For Precinct 1 Commissioner, Eric Evans (36%) will face Mike Pierce (31%) in the runoff. There were four total challengers in the race.  The Tax Assessor-Collector position will also be decided in July between Randy Wineinger (48%) and John Clark (22%), the top two vote-getters of four candidates. Precinct 1 Justice of the Peace incumbent Sandy Berger (32%) will take on Merrick Money (29%) in a runoff, while the race for the Hunt County Republican County Chair will be between incumbent David Hale (48%) and David Renshaw (38%) in July.

Other republican elections in Hunt County that were decided Tuesday include the Precinct 3 Commissioners race, which Phillip Martin claimed by defeating three other challengers. Martin’s 58 percent of the vote topped that of second place Larry Middlebrooks, the incumbent.

Terry Jones, the incumbent for Precinct 1 Constable, defeated his republican challenger Steven Whitten earning 54 percent of the vote. Jones will face democrat Glenn Stone in November.

In the Precinct 2 Constable’s race, Charles Adams claimed 62% of the vote to knock off Anthony Lewis for the republican nomination. Adams now faces the democratic incumbent Wayne “Doc” Pierce in the general election.

Two constable’s races were decided Tuesday, as there were no challengers for the November election. Republican Don Morrison beat David Nunn 52 to 48 percent for Precinct 3, while Precinct 4 Constable incumbent Kent Layton defeated challenger Terry McClain with 56 percent of the vote.

Other finals from Tuesday are as follows:

Delta County:

There was no Democratic opposition for any positions in Delta County, so all winners in the county Tuesday are not expected to face opposition in November.

Three candidates were vying for Delta County Sheriff in the Republican primary, with Ricky Smith (72%) defeating Gene Burns (18%) and G.R. Woods (10%).

County Attorney went to Republican incumbent Jay Garrett, who defeated JoNita Moody, 62% to 38%.

Incumbent Dawn Stewart and Seila Elliot faced off for Delta County Tax Assessor Collector, with Stewart retaining the position by receiving 74 percent of the vote.

Precinct 1 Commissioner is Rip Templeton, who defeated Thomas Ray 62 to 38 percent.

Commissioner for Precinct 3 was between Ronney Benedict (37%) and Wayne Poole (63%), with Poole winning.

Ben Snow defeated Glen Holt for Delta County Constable, with 59 percent of citizens voting in Snow’s favor. County Republican Chairman is Derrell London, who unseats Pamela Derr with 56 percent of the votes.

The lone Democratic position went to Diana Fleek, who was unopposed for County Democratic Chairman.
 

Hopkins County:

There were only two contested races in Hopkins County Tuesday, the races for Precinct 3 Commissioner and Precinct 2 Constable.

Winning the Republican Party’s nomination in the commissioner race was Wade Bartley, who received 64 percent of the vote over Danny Christenberry. Bartley will now face Billy Emerson, a democrat, in the general election.

With 56 percent of the vote, William “Bill” Allan defeated John Brian Beadle for the Precinct 1 Constable republican nomination, earning him the right to face democrat Bobby Neal in November.

Hopkins County was the site of the only area county with an uncontested sheriff’s race. Butch Adams, one of the few democrats serving as sheriff locally, was unopposed and will serve another term.

Fannin County:

In Fannin County, incumbent Sheriff Donnie Foster narrowly avoided a runoff, claiming 53 percent of the vote against his two challengers, Mark Johnson (34%) and Richard Fields (13%). The republican Foster does not face opposition in November.

There were only two other contested races in the county.

The race for Precinct 1 Commissioner between R.W. High and Gary Whitlock went to Whitlock, who ran away with it receiving 80 percent of votes.

There will be a runoff in the Precinct 3 Commissioners race between Jerry Magness (44%) and Kenneth Karl (33%), the top two candidates in a field of three. All runoff elections from around the region are scheduled for July 31.

Lamar County:

Scott Cass ran away with the republican nomination for Lamar County Sheriff, defeating Robert Hughes and Johnny Williams by receiving 61 percent of the vote. As there is no challenger in November, Cass won the election outright Tuesday.

Three contested races will go before voters again in November during the general election.

Republican Lawrence Malone raced past by Dennis Johnson with 69 percent of the vote in the Precinct 1 Commissioner’s race. He’ll now face Cody Jones, democrat, this fall.

After narrowly defeating Randy Boren with 51 percent of the vote, or 13 more votes, Madaline Chance now competes against democrat Rodney Smith in November in the race for Lamar County Precinct 1 Constable.

Also doing battle this fall is Larry Cope and Chad Frazier. Cope won the republican party primary Tuesday for Precinct 3 Constable, earning 60 percent of the vote against two challengers.

Races in Lamar County that were decided Tuesday because of a lack of competition in November included Precinct 3 Commissioner (Rodney Pollard – 55%), Precinct 5 Justice of the Peace (Cindy Cooper Ruthart – 68%), Glenn Hobbs, Jr. for Precinct 5 Constable at 60 percent of the vote and Brady Fisher, who earned 65 percent of the vote for Lamar County Democratic Chair.  

Rains County:

Republican Incumbent David Traylor (64%) was challenged by Wayne Pickett (46%), and Traylor will again be Sheriff in the fall, with no Democratic opposition.

There were several unopposed candidates in Rains County, with one of the remaining two contested races to be decided in a runoff.

Mike Godwin received the most votes in the race for Precinct 3 Commissioner (44%), but it wasn’t enough. He’ll face Paul Foley (29%) for the republican nomination, which will take the overall competition.  

The County Republican Chair went to Sue Gowin (68%), who defeated Deborah McLain (32%).

Other  regional races:

Elsewhere throughout the region, District 2 State Representative Dan Flynn defeated George Alexander with 60 percent of the vote, earning a sixth term in office. The newly redrawn district will serve Hunt, Hopkins and Van Zandt counties.

Earning a 17thterm in office is 89-year-old Ralph Hall, who fended off two challengers to retain his position as U.S. State Representative for District 4. 

Thomas Ratliff narrowly won a second term on the State Board of Education, defeating Randy Stevenson for the District 9 seat with 52 percent of the vote.

Lamar County attorney Will Biard has defeated state Rep. Erwin Cain in the race for 62nd District Judge by 96 votes, according to unofficial reports from Lamar, Delta, Franklin and Hopkins counties. 

Lt.  Gov. David Dewhurst and Ted Cruz are headed for a runoff for the republican nomination to fill the seat of retiring U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. Meanwhile, the democratic nomination will be awarded to the winner of a runoff between former state lawmaker Paul Sadler and Grady Yarbrough.