Campaign signs line the street across from the Hub in downtown Tyler.

From Staff Reports

One Smith County race will head to a runoff as a result of Tuesday’s joint primary elections.

In the Republican race for Commissioner Precinct 3, incumbent Terry Phillips will face challenger J. Scott Herod on May 28. The winner will face Democratic nominee Edith Mayfield Wilson.

When a candidate does not get a majority of votes in a race, the top two vote-getters have to go to a runoff. Herod received the most votes, at 2,968, or 44.25%, while Phillips received 2,141 votes, or 31.92%. The other challenger, Rusty Smith, received 1,598 votes, or 23.83%, according to complete but still unofficial results from the Smith County Elections Office.

Even if a person did not vote in the primary elections, they are eligible to vote in the runoff. So if a voter feels strongly about a race but didn’t vote on March 5, the runoff could be their chance to make a difference. It is important to note voters who did cast a ballot in the primary elections will have to stick to that same party when voting in the runoff.

The winner of the Precinct 3 runoff will face Democrat nominee Edith Mayfield-Wilson, who won Tuesday’s primary with 75.17%, or 775 votes.

It appears a change could be coming to the Smith County Commissioners Court. Challenger Christina Drewry narrowly bested incumbent Pam Frederick in the Precinct 1 race, as Drewry received 50.52%, or 4,630 votes, compared to Frederick’s 49.48%, or 4,535 votes. The difference is just 95 votes. There is no Democrat challenger in this race.

Frederick, a retired teacher and 20-year governmental professional serving 11 years as Bullard’s mayor, was sworn in to serve Precinct 1 on Nov. 9, 2022.

Results are unofficial until mail-in ballots postmarked March 5 are collected and canvassed in about two weeks.

Longtime Sheriff Larry Smith will continue to serve in his role, ousting familiar challenger Chris Green with 66.8% of the vote, according to unofficial results. Smith received 19,231 total votes in Smith County, while Green received 9,559, according to unofficial results.

Green has challenged Smith before, both in 2012 and 2016. Smith has been sheriff since 2012.

In other local contested races, voters chose Republican Judge Sara Maynard to continue serving County Court at Law No. 2. Maynard was first appointed to fill the bench vacancy in January 2023. In her time, Maynard said she’s effectively administered justice, reduced case backlog and saved taxpayer dollars through responsible department budgeting.

It was a close race between Maynard and her challenger, Amy McCullough. Maynard garnered 14,082 votes, or 53.81%, while McCullough received 12,086 votes, or 46.19%.

Maynard said in a post on her campaign Facebook page that she is excited for the opportunity to continue to serve the community. “Thank you so much Smith County for all of your support and encouragement through this campaign,” she said.

McCullough thanked Maynard for her “dedicated service” and is wishing her well, she said on her campaign Facebook page.

“We are fortunate to live in a country where citizens have the opportunity to choose their elected leaders, and I respect the voters’ decision. I look forward to continuing to serve the people of Smith County as the Presiding Judge of the Tyler Municipal Court, where I will do my part to pursue justice on behalf of our community,” McCullough said.

In the race for Smith County Republican Party Chair, incumbent David Stein won with 14,703 votes, or 66.39%. Challenger Kevin McCall received 7,444 votes, or 33.61%, according to the unofficial results.

In other Republican outcomes, Bob Brewer earned the majority in the Precinct Chair 3 race; Charles Turner earned 62% of the votes in the Precinct 41 Chair race; and Chris Drewry garnered a majority with 64% of the vote in the race for Precinct 42 Chair.

Democrat Ralph Caraway Jr. will be officially elected to serve as Precinct 1 constable after 65.50%, or 1,268 voters, chose him to serve in the role. Challengers Willie Mims and Derrick Holman, both formerly of the Precinct 1 office, fell behind. Mims received 28.09%, or 543 votes, while Holman received 122 votes, or 6.31%.

For Democratic Precinct Chair 58, Gayle Symonette overwhelmingly bested her opponent, with 117 votes, or 87.31%. DG Montalvo received 17 votes, or 12.69%.

Primaries are elections political parties use to select candidates for a general election. No one is elected to a position during a primary; however, if there isn’t a challenger from the other party, the winner of the respective primary will ultimately be the candidate who fills the role. In contested races, the winner of each primary will face each other in the November election.

In Smith County, there was a 22.96% turnout during the primary. A total of 36,087 ballots were cast out of 157,173 registered voters in the county. Of that, 30,638 cast Republican Party ballots while 5,449 voted in the Democratic Primary.

Below are the full complete, yet unofficial, results from Smith County’s joint primary elections:

Republican Ballot

Sheriff

Chris Green (9,559 votes, or 33.20%)

WINNER: Larry Smith (19,231 votes, or 66.80%)

County Commissioner Precinct 1

Christina Drewry (4,630 votes, or 50.52%)

Pam Frederick (4,535 votes, or 49.48%)

County Commissioner Precinct 3 (runoff between Herod and Phillips)

Rusty Smith (1,598 votes, or 23.83%)

J. Scott Herod (2,968 votes, or 44.25%)

Terry Phillips (2,141 votes, or 31.92%)

County Court at Law No. 2

WINNER: Sara Maynard (14,082 votes, or 53.81%)

Amy McCullough (12,086 votes, or 46.19%)

County Chair

WINNER: David Stein (14,703 votes, or 66.39%)

Kevin McCall (7,444 votes, or 33.61%)

Precinct Chair, Precinct No. 3

Lauren Ethredge Langas (153 votes, or 45.40%)

WINNER: Bob Brewer (184 votes, or 54.60%)

Precinct Chair, Precinct No. 41

WINNER: Charles W. Turner (268 votes, 62.33%)

Jesse Constante (162 votes, 37.67%)

Precinct Chair, Precinct No. 42

Shannon Mercer (319 votes, 35.92%)

WINNER: Chris Drewry (569 votes, 64.08%)

County Constable Precinct 2 candidate Wayne Allen, faced no challenger in the primary elections. After the final report of the night, he received 8,605 votes, or 100%.

County Constable Precinct 3 candidate Jim Blackmon, who was also uncontested, received 5,919 votes, or 100%.

County Constable Precinct 4 incumbent Josh Joplin faced no opposition in the primary and will continue to serve the precinct. He received 2,119 votes, or 100%.

County Constable Precinct 5 incumbent Wesley Hicks will also continue to serve as he did not face a challenger. He received 4,355 votes, or 100%.

County Tax Assessor-Collector Gary Barber received 24,020 votes, or 100%. He did not have a challenger in the primary.

District Judge 7th Judicial District incumbent Kerry Russell did not face a challenger. He received 21,930 votes or 100%.

District Judge 114th Judicial District incumbent Austin Reeve Jackson was the only candidate in the primary, and garnered 21,962 votes, or 100%.

District Judge 475th Judicial District candidate Taylor Heaton, also uncontested, received 21,403 votes, or 100%.

Democrat Ballot

County Commissioner Precinct 3

Dave Hansen (256 votes, 24.83%)

WINNER: Edith Mayfield-Wilson (775 votes, 75.17%)

County Constable Precinct 1

WINNER: Ralph Caraway Jr. (1,268 votes, 65.60%)

Derrick Holman (122 votes, 6.31%)

Willie Mims (543 votes, 28.09%)

Precinct Chair, Precinct No. 58

DG Montalvo (17 votes, 12.69%)

WINNER: Gayle Symonette (117 votes, 87.31%)

County Chair

Hector Garza was uncontested in the primary. He received 4,207 votes, or 100%.

In addition to local races, Smith County voted on a number of federal and state races. At the top of the ticket were the candidates running for president, in which Joe Biden and Donald Trump overwhelmingly won their respective primaries. Down the ballot, Texans also weighed in on dozens of state and federal races, where the primary winner is often assumed to be the eventual winner because of noncompetitive matchups in November.

Here’s how Smith County voted in each of the federal and state races.

Republican Candidates

FEDERAL

Republican presidential candidates

• Asa Hutchinson 48 votes, or 0.16%
• Donald Trump 24,742 votes, or 81.12%
• Ron Desantis 582 votes, or 1.91%
• Vivek Rmaswamy 95 votes, or 0.31%
• David Stuckenberg 14 votes, or 0.05%
• Chris Christie 68 votes, or 0.22%
• Ryan Binkley 13 votes, or 0.04%
• Nikki Haley 4,348 votes, or 14.26%

U.S. Senator candidates

• R.E. Rufus Lopez 1,082 votes, or 3.72%
• Ted Cruz 27,139 votes, or 93.22%
• Holland Gibson 891 votes, or 3.06%

U.S. Representative District 1 candidate Nathaniel Moran was uncontested. He received 23,716 votes in Smith County.

STATE

Railroad Commissioner candidates

• Corley Howell 2,401 votes, or 9.72%
• Petra Reyes 584 votes, or 2.36%
• Christie Clark 3,694 votes, or 14.95%
• James Matlock 4,654 votes, or 18.84%
• Christi Craddick 13,372 votes, or 54.13%

Justice, Supreme Court, Place 2 candidate Jimmy Blacklock received 21,828 votes in Smith County.

Justice, Supreme Court, Place 4 candidates

• John Devine 12,889 votes, 56.12%
• Brain Walker 10,079 votes, 43.88%

Justice, Supreme Court, Place 6 candidate Jane Bland received 19,756 votes in Smith County.

Presiding Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals candidates

• David Schenick 16,192 votes, or 68.58%
• Sharon Keller 7,418 votes, or 31.42%
• Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals Place 7 candidates
• Gina Parker 17,071 votes, or 74.83%
• Barbara Parker Hervey 5,742 votes, or 25.17%

Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals Place 8 candidates

• Lee Finley 11,775 votes, or 55.63%
• Michelle Slaughter 9,390 votes, or 44.37%

State Representative District 5 candidates

• Jeff Fletcher 1,856 votes, or 29.79%
• Cole Hefner 3,896 votes, or 62.54%
• Dewey Collier 478 votes, or 7.67%

State Representative District 6 candidate Daniel Alders was uncontested in the primary. In Smith County, he received 16,329 votes, or 100%.

Justice, 12th Court of Appeals District, Place 3 candidate Greg Neeley was also uncontested. In Smith County, he received 20,888 votes, or 100%.

There were also 13 propositions on the Republican ballot. Each proposition is a yes or no vote. Here’s how Smith County voted on each of ballot propositions:

1. 80.17% voted Yes, 19.83% voted No “Texas should eliminate all property taxes without increasing Texans’ overall tax burden;”
2. 94.40% voted Yes, 5.60% voted No “Texas should create a Border Protection Unit, and deploy additional state law enforcement and military forces, to seal the border, to use physical force to prevent illegal entry and trafficking, and to deport illegal aliens to Mexico or to their nations of origin;”
3. 92.28% voted Yes, 7.72% voted No “The Texas Legislature should require the use of E-Verify by all employers in Texas to protect jobs for legal workers by preventing the hiring of illegal aliens.”
4. 90.86% voted Yes, 9.14% voted No “The Texas Legislature should end all subsidies and public services, including in-state college tuition and enrollment in public schools, for illegal aliens;”
5. 87.44% voted Yes, 12.56% voted No “Texas urges the United States Congress not to grant any form of amnesty or a pathway to legalization for illegal aliens;”
6. 87.47% voted Yes, 12.53% voted No “The Texas Legislature should prohibit the deployment of the Texas National Guard to a foreign conflict unless Congress first formally declares war;”
7. 80.90% voted Yes, 19.10% voted No “The Texas Legislature should establish authority within the Texas State Comptroller’s office to administer access to gold and silver through the Texas Bullion Depository for use as legal tender;”
8. 93.95% voted Yes, 6.05% voted No “The State of Texas should ensure that Texans are free to give or to withhold consent for any vaccine without coercion;”
9. 77.47% voted Yes, 22.53 voted No “The Republican Party of Texas should restrict voting in the Republican Primary to only registered Republicans;”
10. 92.81% voted Yes, 7.19% voted No “The Texas Constitution should be amended to restore authority to the Texas Attorney General to prosecute election crimes;”
11. 80.29% voted Yes, 19.71% voted No “Texas parents and guardians should have the right to select schools, whether public or private, for their children, and the funding should follow the student;”
12. 97.55% voted Yes, 2.45% voted No “The Texas Constitution should be amended to require proof of citizenship before any individual can be registered to vote;”
13. 96.7% voted Yes, 3.30% voted No “Texas should ban the sale of Texas land to citizens, governments, and entities from China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia.”

Statewide, nearly 78% voted yes for Proposition 1; almost 91% voted yes for Prop 2; nearly 90% voted in favor of Prop 3; almost 88% voted yes for Prop 4; 83% voted yes for Prop 5; 84% voted in favor of Prop 6; 76.5% voted in favor of Prop 7; 92% voted in favor of Prop 8; 73% voted yes for Prop 9; 89% voted in favor of Prop 10; 80% were in favor of Prop 11; 96% were in favor of Prop 12; and 95% voted yes for Prop 13, according to the Texas Secretary of State.

The propositions were not policy referendums. Rather, they were placed on the ballot by the Republican Party of Texas to gauge voters’ opinions on various issues.

Democratic Candidates

FEDERAL

Presidential candidates

• Gabriel Cornejo 112 votes, or 2.14%
• Joseph Biden Jr 4,683 votes, or 89.39%
• Star Locke 37 votes, or 0.71%
• Dean Phillips 174 votes, or 3.32%
• Armando Perez-Serrato 36 votes, or 0.69%
• Marianne Williamson 144 votes, or 2.75%
• Frankie Lozada 14 votes, or 0.27%
• Cenk Uyagur 39 votes, or 0.74%

U.S. Senator candidates

• Carl Sherman 705 votes, or 14.14%
• Meri Gomez 380 votes, or 7.62%
• Heli Rodriguez Prilliman 135 votes, or 2.71%
• Colin Allred 2,579 votes, or 51.72%
• Roland Gutierrez 406 votes, or 8.14%
• A Robert Hassan 128 votes, or 2.57%
• Steven Keough 170 votes, or 3.41%
• Thierry Tchenko 79 votes, or 1.58%
• Mark Gonzalez 404 votes, 8.10%

STATE

Railroad Commissioners candidates

• Katherine Culbert 3,256 votes, or 68.90%
• Bill Burch 1,470 votes, or 31.10%

Justice, Supreme Court, Place 2 candidates

• DaSean Jones 3,281 votes, or 72.22%
• Randy Sarosdy 1,262 votes, or 27.78%

Justice, Supreme Court, Place 4 candidate Christine Vinh Weems, who faced no opposition in the primary, earned 4,134 votes in Smith County.

Justice, Supreme Court, Place 6 candidates

• Joe Pool 1,596 votes, or 34.89%
• Bonnie Lee Goldstein 2,978 votes, or 65.11%

Facing no opposition, the Democratic nominee for Presiding Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals is candidate Holly Taylor who received 4,195, 100% of the vote in Smith County.

Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals Place 7 candidate Nancy Mulder, also facing no opposition in the primary, is the Democratic nominee with 4,173, 100% of the vote in Smith County.

Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals Place 8 candidate Chika Anyiam, also with no opposition in the Democratic primary, earned the nomination and received 4,071 votes in Smith County.

State Representative District 6 candidate Cody Grace faced no Democratic challenger in the primary race. He received 3,499 votes in Smith County.