Staff Reports
A little less than one fifth of registered voters in Marion County chose to head to the polls in the first primary of the 2022 election cycle.
Republicans had the largest turnout with 1,153 ballots cast while Democrats had 289.
And yet, the outcome of the County’s only contested election was still undetermined as of press time Wednesday evening. Final numbers were 1,442 registered voters, or 19.21%, cast a ballot.
Marion County Republican Party Chairman Scott Stebbins held a 34 vote lead over challenger Hunter Bonner, 537-503. However, 45 ballots by mail had yet to be counted, leaving the final tally in limbo for up to 7 days per the new state voting laws.
Marion County Elections Coordinator Karen Jones said her office is working to get them cured as soon as possible.
All other county offices were uncontested and all had Republican candidates.
State level offices which were contested saw Scott Walker defeating Clint Morgan 590-353 for the Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 5 for the Republican nominee. Walker will face Democrat Dana Huffman in November who was unopposed.
David Schenck earned 53.18% of Marion County votes for Supreme Court Justice, Place 9. He will face Julia Maldonado on the Democratic side.
Texas Railroad Commissioner saw Wayne Christian earning 41.99% of Marion County votes, far ahead of any of the four challengers. He will face Democrat Luke Warford. Warford was unopposed in the Democratic primary.
Sid Miller remained a Marion County favorite for Commissioner of Agriculture receiving 50.25% of the Republican votes. Susan Hays picked up 82.33% of the Marion County Democratic vote.
Marion County’s choice for the General Land Office was undecided with none of the eight republican candidates receiving more than 50% of the votes. Dawn Buckingham, who visited Jefferson in February, drew 30.25%; Tim Westley had 19.38%; Don Minton with 15.39%; Victor Avila had 12.49%; and Jon Spiers with 12.38%.
Democrats were also unable to determine a clear winner for their GLO nominee with all four candidates splitting the votes. Sandragrace Martinez with 30.65%; Michael Lange with 27.59%; Jay Kleberg at 23.75%; and Jinny Suh with 18.01%.
Glenn Hegar received 80.68% of the votes to be the Republican Comptroller of Public Accounts. Democrats gave a marginal nod to Janet Dudding with 43.94%; Tim Mahoney with 28.41%; and Angel Luis Vega with 27.65%
The Honorable Louie Gohmert kept the hearts of Marion County Republicans, receiving 41.61% to Ken Paxton’s 34.81% for Attorney General. Democrats here favored Rochelle Mercedes Garza with 36.8%
The local Republican choice for Lieutenant Governor is again Dan Patrick who received 70.32% while Democrats again were undecided with all three candidates each receiving around 30%.
Texas’ Grass Roots Governor candidate Beto O’Rourke captured 75.96% of the Democratic votes in Marion County. Incumbent Governor Greg Abbott picked up 69.49% of Republican votes.
The US House of Representative for District 1 candidate Jrmar (JJ) Jefferson received 48.85% of the Democratic votes in Marion County. He did not have a Republican challenger.
All vote totals and percentages are unofficial at this time.