The Texas Supreme Court's decision to separate votes in Dallas County cast after 7 p.m. Tuesday has raised questions about when, or perhaps even if, those those votes ultimately will be counted.
The Supreme Court's decision followed widespread confusion among Dallas County voters who apparently showed up a polling locations where they weren't eligible to vote — and an order by a judge in Dallas County to extend voting hours. County elections officials notified potential voters online that "Democratic Party polling locations...would remain open until 9:00PM" and that Republican locations would close at 7 p.m. "as scheduled."
Here's some of the important races that Dallas County residents have voted on:
Amber Givens, a former Dallas County judge, is challenging District Attorney John Creuzot in the Democratic primary. In early voting, Givens and Creuzot had almost evenly split the vote. Givens had slightly more than 50% of the vote and Creuzot had slightly less. Results released by the elections department 2 a.m. showed Givens leading with about 52% of the vote counted at that point. Creuzot had picked up about about 48%.
Two local attorneys, Alison Grinter Allen and Jeneba Barrie are running in the Democratic primary to succeed Givens as judge in the 282nd District Court. No Republicans are running for that seat. Allen had picked up ab out 64% of the vote in early voting and Barrie had about 36%.
The current County Judge Clay Lewis Jenkins, who had no Democratic challenger, will face Mike Immler. Immler ran unopposed in the Republican primary.
County judge is the top elected official, presiding over commissioners court, which is responsible for disbursing county money to its departments and agencies.
Neither sitting commissioners Andy Sommerman nor Elba Garcia have Democratic opponents, but Sommerman will go up against one of two Republicans — Blake W. Clemens or Barry Wernick — for the Precinct 2 seat in the general election. Wernick led with about 60% of the early vote to Clemens' 40%.
District Clerk Felicia Pitre was the only Democratic candidate on the primary ballot. Republican Dave Muehlhaeusler was also unopposed in his party’s primary and will challenge the incumbent Pitre in the general election.
Skye Garcia has no challenger in the Republican Party for the office of county clerk. Damarcus Offord, a DART senior manager. Ann Marie Cruz and Tony Grimes are the three Democratic candidates for that office.
Cruz had about 43% of the vote early Wednesday and Offord had about 40%. And Grimes had about 18%. If those percentages don't change significantly, the race could be headed to a runoff.
Longtime clerk John Warren withdrew from that race to pursue consulting and endorsed Offord.
Republican Corsandra Brigham Phelps will run against current county treasurer and Democrat Pauline Medrano. Neither faced opponents in their respective primary races.
Vonda Bailey ran unopposed and will remain 255th court district judge. No Republican sought that office.
Danielle Clark and Twana Allen are running in the Democratic primary to become the judge in the 301st Family District Court. The position was left open when Mary Brown suddenly resigned in January mid-term. Clark had a significant lead in early voting — about 67% — to Allen's 33%.
Governor Greg Abbott had appointed temporarily Republican Ashley Wysocki to preside over that court.
Wysocki is running unopposed in the Republican primary to become the 5th Court of Appeals Justice for Place 8, which serves Collin, Dallas, Grayson, Hunt, Kaufman, and Rockwall counties. Two Democrats are running for that seat: Andrea Plumlee and Nicholas Palmer. In Dallas County, Plumlee picked up about 67% of the early vote and Palmer got about 33%.
Two Democrats are running for Plumlee's seat on the 330th District Court, Ashlei Gradney and Tamika Jones. In early voting, Jones had about 68% of the vote to Gradney's 32%.
The Texas Attorney General race attracted a number of candidates in both the Republican and the Democratic primaries. The office became open after Ken Paxton chose to run for U.S. Senate.
Dist. 16 State Sen. Nathan Johnson and Anthony "Tony" Box, both of Dallas, are running for AG in the Dallas primary. In Dallas County early voting, Johnson got about 63% of the vote, Box got about 19%, and former Galveston mayor Joe Jaworski got about 18%.
Aaron Reitz, Chip Roy, Mayes Middleton and Joan Huffman are running for AG in the Republican primary.
In Dallas County early voting, Middleton got about 45% of the vote, Roy got about 30%, Huffman got about 14% and Reitz got about 11%.
There also was a crowded field of Democrats and Republicans in the Texas Comptroller race.
Democrats Savant Moore, Sarah Eckhardt and Michael Lange were on the Dallas County Democratic primary ballot. Eckhardt got about 58% of the early voting in Dallas County, Moore got about 23%, and Lange got about 19%.
Michael Berlanga, Don Huffines, Christi Craddick and Kelly Hancock were running for comptroller in the Republican primary. In Dallas County early voting, Huffines got about 63% of the vote, Hancock got about 22%, Craddick got about 12% and Berlanga got about 3%.
Fort Worth’s Hancock currently is acting comptroller, appointed by Abbott after Glenn Hegar left to become Texas A&M University System chancellor.
Of the 139 Democratic races, nearly half were contested. On the Republican ballot, 21 of 56 races were contested.
Got a tip? Email Marina Trahan Martinez at mmartinez@kera.org. You can follow Marina at @HisGirlHildy.
KERA News is made possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this reporting valuable, consider making a tax-deductible gift today. Thank you.
