Early voting primarily over

Early voting in the Democratic and Republican political party primaries closed Friday, Feb. 28, at 7 p.m. so those who haven’t voted yet have one last chance to make their voices heard at the ballot box, and that’s Election Day, Tuesday, March 3, between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.

Voting Tuesday will take place at polling places: 
Precinct 101, Justice of the Peace Pct 1 Office, 310 S Dallas St., Groesbeck

Precinct 102, Mary Helen Nance Community Center, 301 E 8th St , Thornton

Precinct 103 , Kosse Community Center, 200 N. S.H. 14, Kosse

Precinct 104 , Old Union Community Center , 3573 FM 3371, Old Union

Precinct 201 , Northcrest Church of Christ, 918 Tehuacana Rd. (S.H. 171), Mexia

Precinct 202 , Faith Lutheran Church, 401 S Hwy 14 , Mexia

Precinct 203 , Bethsaida Missionary Church, 3422 U.S. 84 West, Mexia

Precinct 204 , Prairie Hill Water Supply, 5337 A Hwy. 73 W, Prairie Hill

Precinct 205 , Coolidge Civic Center, 806 Bell St, Coolidge

Precinct 206 , Tehuacana City Hall, 205 S. Railroad St, Tehuacana

Precinct 301 , Limestone County Courthouse, 200 W. State St. Rm. G13, Groesbeck

Precinct 302 , Temple Baptist Church, 719 S Red River St, Mexia

Precinct 303 , Ben Hur Community Center, 981 FM 339 S., Ben Hur

Precinct 304 , White Rock Water Supply, 841 LCR 463 (Old Hwy. 14), Forest Glade

Precinct 305 , Lake Mexia Vol. Fire Dept, 291 LCR 377, Mexia

Precinct 401 , Mexia Civic Center, 101 S. McKinney St., Mexia

Precinct 402 , Farrar - XTO Building, 1016 FM 1512, Donie

Precinct 403, Point Enterprise Clubhouse, 461 LCR 502, Point Enterprise

Precinct 404 , Shiloh Community Center, 231 LCR 433, Mexia

Precinct 405 , Prairie Grove Baptist Church, 2678 FM 1953, Mexia

Precinct 406 , Lost Prairie Baptist Church, 514 FM 3371, Groesbeck

The winners of the primaries will go head to head in the Nov. 8 General Election, but if no one has signed up to run in one party’s primary, the winner of the other party’s primary election will likely be the winner with no opponent in November.

Five contested county races are in just that position, with no one signed up on the Democratic side, so the decision will effectively be made in the March 3 Republican primaries:

• County Sheriff – With current Sheriff Dennis Wilson retiring at the end of 2020, Chief Deputy Murray Agnew and Groesbeck Police Chief Chris Henson will square off as his replacement.

• Pct. 1 County Commissioner – Incumbent John McCarver and challenger Bill David Sadler face each other in this match-up.

• Pct. 1 Constable – Incumbent Scott T. Smith is being challenged by Allan Stewart for this position.

• Pct. 3 County Commissioner – Incumbent Jerry R. Allen is facing challenger Stephen Friday for this seat.

• Pct. 4 Constable – Former Constable Kevin Nichols moved away and the seat was being filled by formerly retired Constable Jim Boyd until the election of a new constable. Now, Mexia Police Department Capt. Bobby Coslin and Limestone County Investigator Mark Roark are fighting for this position.

At press time Friday, only the early voting figures through Thursday, Sept. 27 were available. According to the Secretary of State’s website (earlyvoting.texas-election.com), through the end of Thursday, 287 or 2.12 percent of Limestone County voters had voted in the Democratic primary; and 2,155 or 15.89 percent of the county’s 13,566 registered voters had voted in the Republican primary.

Southard said turnout in Limestone County was one of the highest in Texas.

“In comparison to the primary elections in 2012 and 2016, this primary election turn-out has surpassed both of those elections by a significant amount,” Southard said. “As of closing on Wednesday night, there is a 15 percent turn-out for both primaries, including both Ballots by Mail and Early Voting by Personal Appearance. This average is amongst the highest in the State of Texas.

“We in the Elections Office are proud of the turn-out thus far, and encourage the remaining registered voters of Limestone County to utilize their right to vote on Tuesday, March 3,” Southard said.

The race to be District 17’s next U.S. Representative has three candidates running in the Democratic primary and 11 candidates running in the Republican primary; the two respective winners will face each other Nov. 8. If no one reaches 50 percent in any race, the top two winners will be in a runoff election on Tuesday, May 26. More details will be published in future issues of The Mexia News and the Groesbeck Journal if there are any runoffs.

The Democratic candidates for U.S. Representative include David Anthony Jaramillo, William Foster III and Rick Kennedy. The Republican candidates in that race include Pete Sessions, Ahmad Adrian, Todd Kent, George W. Hindman, Scott Bland, Laurie Godfrey McReynolds, Trent Sutton, Elianor Vessali, Renée Swann, David Saucedo, Kristen Alamo Rowin and Jeff Oppenheim.

The Mexia News and the Groesbeck Journal will post the announced unofficial winners in both primaries on their respective websites the evening of March 3.

Those who want to go to the courthouse that evening may watch for the results themselves, starting about 7 p.m. The results from the Mexia Civic Center will have to be physically taken to the Courthouse, where the final results will be tabulated and announced.

As for statewide turnout, according to the Secretary of State website (www.sos.state.tx.us), Limestone County turnout was much higher than at the state level.

Of the 16,211,198 registered voters state wide, 751,084, or 4.63 percent voted early in the Democratic primary, and 876,997, or 5.41 percent voted early in the Republican primary.

Election results online

The printed version of the Wednesday edition of The Mexia News will be out before the election results are final.

However, we’ll post results throughout the evening on www.themexianews.com.