V. Hugh Lewis II
Jefferson Jimplecute
Jefferson ISD School Board and the City of Jefferson will see new faces starting at next week’s meetings after voters made their choices last Saturday.
Jason Bonner will continue to represent JISD Place 1. Bonner received 55 absentee votes, 271 in early voting, and 304 on election day, for a total of 630 votes. Bonner was unopposed.
Kirstin Johnson defeated Jason Cooner 193-160 for the JISD Place 2 seat. Johnson received 52 absentee votes, 176 early votes, and 193 on election day. Cooner received 15 early votes, 146 in early voting, and 160 on election day.
Joey Romano will join JISD School board after receiving 602 votes. He received 53 in absentee votes, 263 in early voting, and 286 on election day. Romano was unopposed.
City of Jefferson elections saw Mayor Rob Baker receiving 271 votes with 17 absentee, 147 in early voting, and 107 on election day. Baker was unopposed for the Mayor’s position.
Hollis Shadden will be the new representative for Ward 1 after defeating Michelle Fox-Davis 112-65. Shadden received 3 absentee votes, 71 in early voting, and 38 on election day. Fox-Davis received 4 absentee votes, 43 in early voting, and 18 on election day.
Will Thomas will replace Jamey Parsons in representing Ward 2. Thomas received 6 absentee votes, 33 in early voting, and 32 on election day. Parsons received 4 absentee votes, 32 in early voting, and 29 on election day.
April Taylor Johnson defeated India Stanberry to represent Ward 3 59-25. Taylor Johnson received 10 absentee votes, 18 in early voting, and 31 on election day. Stanberry received 0 absentee votes, 18 in early voting, and 7 on election day.
The Ore City ISD Trustee saw Megan Leath, Tracy Copeland Berryman, and Virginia Harris being selected to fill the 3 ISD seats. Leath received 3 votes, Berryman received 3 votes, and Harris received 2 votes. Bobby Byrd also sought one of the 3 seats, but only received 1 vote. The top 3 vote receivers were selected.
Ore City ISD saw a 1.39% turnout of registered voters, with 7 out of 503 ballots cast.
JISD saw a 11.87% voter turnout with 831 ballots cast out of a possible 7,001.
The City of Jefferson Mayors’ race had a 26.61% turnout with 400 of 1,503 ballots cast. Ward 1 saw 30.27% turnout with 178 of 588 ballots cast. Ward 2 saw 137 out of 455 ballots cast or 30.11%. Ward 3 had 85 out of 460 or 18.48% of available ballots cast.
The State of Texas Constitutional Amendments both passed in Marion County.
Proposition 1, which passed 673-123, allows homeowners who are 65 or over or are disabled to have the 2019 approved additional property valuation reductions applied to their property starting in 2023.
Proposition 2, which passed 630-171, increases the amount of the residence homestead exemption for school district taxes from $25,000 to $40,000.
The state will reimburse school districts for the lost property tax revenue, so area school districts will not see a reduction in funding.