EARLY VOTING STARTS MONDAY FOR PRIMARY RUNOFF
Early voting opens on Monday for the races in the May 28th primary runoff election.
The Washington County Courthouse Annex will be open for five days of early voting next week, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. May 20-24. On Election Day, polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at eight designated polling places in the county.
Of the three contested races on the runoff ballot, the one drawing the most attention is the State Representative District 12 race between Trey Wharton and Ben Bius. The two Republicans advanced to the runoff after finishing first and second out of a close three-way race in the March primary that saw no one receive over 50 percent majority of the votes.
Results from the Texas Secretary of State’s website show Wharton received 10,506 votes in the primary, while Bius finished with 9,804 and John Harvey Slocum collected 9,712. Wharton led in Washington and Walker counties, Bius took Grimes and Madison counties, and Slocum won Brazos and Robertson counties.
The winner of the runoff will go on to face Democrat Dee Howard Mullins and Libertarian Robert Profili in November.
One other race is on the Republican ballot. The seat for State Board of Education District 10 is sought by incumbent Tom Maynard and challenger Mary Bone, who moved on to the runoff as the top two of three total candidates.
The runoff winner will face Democrat Raquel Saenz Ortiz, Green Party candidate Daniel Caldwell and Libertarian Gerald McAlexander in the November election.
On the Democratic ballot, voters will choose their preferred candidate to serve as justice for the 14th Court of Appeals District, Place 3. In a four-way race in the primary, Velda Renita Faulkner and incumbent Jerry Zimmerer were the top two vote-getters.
The winner among the two will go up against Republican Chad Bridges in November.