Today residents of Marion County can go to the polls and choose the next members of the Jefferson ISD School Board and City of Jefferson Aldermen, and to see if alcohol can be sold everywhere in the County.
Polls are open from 7a-7p.
Polling Locations are:
- Mims VFD, 9902 FM 729, Avinger
- Kellyville Sr Citizen Bldg., 130 Kelly Park Rd
- Marion County Election Bldg., 504 N Alley
- Smithland VFD-Community Meeting Room, 8247 Hwy 49 E
- Lone Oak Baptist Church, 120 Watts Rd
Jefferson ISD
Leah Cooper, running unopposed for Place 4, will retain her seat for another term.
Place 5 has two vying for the position vacated early by Kevin Godfrey. Godfrey’s term was set to expire this year, and he resigned earlier this year as he is moving.
Candidates for Place 5 are:
- Douglas Hurst
- Rusty Mauldin
City of Jefferson
There are three seats up for election in the City of Jefferson election – one from each ward.
Ward 1 is a three-way race. Candidates are:
- Jim Finstrom, incumbent
- Charles “Bubba” Haggard
- B.W. Brooks
Ward 2 is an unopposed race with Ray Hengst taking the open seat. This seat was previously held by Richard Turner who was elected as a Ward 3 Alderman prior to the City’s redistricting. Redistricting changed the boundaries of all the Wards, but per state law, if an elected official’s home placed them in a different Ward than which they were elected, they were allowed to retain the seat until the next election.
Ward 3 is also a three-way race. Candidates include:
- Robin Moore, incumbent
- Douglas Thompson
- Rod Rodriguez
Local Option Election
Registered voters in Justice of the Peace Precinct 1 have an additional choice on their ballots this year.
Back prior the consolidation of the JP Precincts, there were two voting precincts which were “dry” – or, which prohibited the sale of alcohol in those precincts. When the JP Precincts were consolidated from four to two, the alcohol sale status did not change.
“Big Jeff” Ellis, owner of Brushy Landing, has worked for several years to get the proper signatures to allow for an election to change the “dry” status to “wet.” Late last summer, Ellis obtained, and had verified, the appropriate signatures, but the verification process extended past the required cutoff date for inclusion in last year’s November elections, so it was placed on the May 2023 election ballot.
While the outcome only affects the two specific precincts, according to State Election Law and TABC requirements, the entire JP 1 precinct must pass the measure.
Results
Results from today’s election will be posted on the website as they come in. As Marion County operates Voting Centers, registered voters can cast their ballot at any location. But this means results for the City will not be complete until all voting locations have reported their results.
All elections are determined by a simple majority, so every vote counts.
As of the close of Early Voting on Tuesday, 339 people had cast a ballot.
Polls are open from 7a-7p today. Results normally begin being posted around 7:45-8p today.