Election day in Smith County

Smith County voted to pass a multimillion dollar road and bridge project Tuesday, according to unofficial results.

Out of the 148,949 registered voters in Smith County, only 10,831, or 7.27% cast their vote in the election.

Local items on the ballot included a $45 million road and bridge bond to improve roads throughout Smith County, mayor and council positions in Overton and council positions in Whitehouse.

The unofficial results of the 2021 election are below:

Smith County road and bridge bond

Results show the $45 million dollar bond has passed. A total of 10,721 people voted for the bond, 62.40% being for it and 36.58% against. 

This is the second phase of a road and bridge project in Smith County. The first phase passed in the November 2017 elections by a 73% margin, improving about 200 miles of roads so far, according to the county.

Phase 2 is estimated to improve 283 more miles of roads. With the completion of both phases, around 483 miles of county roads will be improved.

Smith County Engineer Frank Davis said Phase 2 is fluid and will always be changing as needed.

The work in Phase 1 and the planned work for Phase 2 along with maps of completed and planned work can be found at smith-county.com/i-want-to/view/county-road-projects .

Miles of road completed in Phase 1 and those planned for Phase 2 include:

• Pct. 1 has 296 miles of road. A total of 55 miles were improved in Phase 1, and 68 miles are planned for Phase 2.

• Pct. 2 has 219 miles of road. A total of 42 miles were improved in Phase 1, and 46 miles are planned for Phase 2.

• Pct. 3 has 510 miles of road. A total of 63 miles were completed in Phase 1, and 138 miles are planned for Phase 2.

• Pct. 4 has 144 miles of road. A total of 39 miles were improved in Phase 1, and 31 miles are planned for Phase 2.

Overton

Citizens of Overton voted for the positions of mayor and council places 2, 4 and 3.

As of Wednesday at noon, results show Curtis Gilbert getting the nod for mayor. Out of 300 votes between Rusk and Smith counties, Gilbert received 234 and Roxanne Richards received 66. 

Christopher Hall was the only candidate for council place 2, receiving 281 votes — 262 of those in Rusk County and 19 in Smith County.

Reggie Thompson leads in council place 3, according to the unofficial results. Out of 299 votes between the two counties, Thompson received 197 votes and Robbi Jo Young Carnes received 102 votes.

Council place 4 was a closer race, but unofficial results show Monty Ward Jr. with the most votes compared to Faithe Jackson. Out of 291 total votes, Ward received 150 and Faithe Jackson received 141. 

Whitehouse

Citizens of Whitehouse voted for council places 1, 3 and 5. 

For council place 1 Zack Briscoe was the only candidate on the ballot. Results show out of the 290 people who voted for this position, he received 82.15% of votes.

For council place 3, results show John Chambers appearing to get the nod. Out of the 277 votes cast Chambers received 64.02% of votes and Richard Flanders received 14.45%.

For council place 5 Heath Rosenstein was the only candidate and out of the 280 votes cast received 79.32% of votes.