ELLIS COUNTY – With several upsets and some regrets as to the winners in the Republican primaries last week, four races will require voters to return to the polls on May 26 for a runoff to fill the GOP seats in the November election.
In a crowded GOP senate race with eight candidates, Senator John Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton came out with the most votes, but neither received more than 50% resulting in a necessary runoff. Rep. Wesley Hunt trailed in third place.
The Republican primary for Texas attorney general is headed to a runoff since no candidate in the GOP race received 50% of the vote, required to secure a win. Mayes Middleton and Chip Roy will face each other in May to determine the Republican nominee in November.
Kameron Raburn and Lane Grayson will face off for the Ellis County Judge seat in May. Grayson narrowly took the lead against Raburn but neither candidate received 50% of the vote. The third challenger Travis Smith came in with 23.43% of the vote.
The runoff for the open seat for Ellis County Commissioner - Precinct 2 will be between Matthew L. Zajic who received 1,849 votes and John Paul Dineem, III with 1,147 votes. That seat opened when Grayson decided to run for Ellis County Judge.
GOP PRIMARY WINNERS
For the 6th Congressional District Incumbent Jake Ellzey won that election beating challengers James Buford and Brian Stahl. Ellzey won the Republican primary despite his connections with AIPAC, voter’s frustrations with his absence in the district and his votes not to defund $315M promoting a left-wing non-profit, voting to allow kill switches on vehicles and his “yes” vote to approve billions for refugee benefits.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Lt. Governor Dan Patrick both won their primaries, beating lesser-known challengers to now move on to the November races against Democratic opponents.
Don Huffines, an ultraconservative who was also a former state senator, won the GOP primary against three challengers.
For Agriculture Commissioner, Nate Sheets defeated incumbent Sid Miller in the GOP primary.
State Senator in District 2 Incumbent Bob Hall beat challenger Jason Eddington with 78.7% of the vote.
In the State Senator race for District 22, David Cook received 67.4% of the vote, beating out challengers Jon Gimble and Rene Schroeder.
For State Representative in District 10, incumbent Brian Harrison kept his seat against challengers with 53.4% of the vote. Matt Authier and Jon Garrett both received a little over 5,000 votes each in the race.
Incumbent Greg Wilhelm kept his seat as Judge for the 504th Judicial District. Wilhelm was appointed to the seat late last year by Gov. Abbott beating challenger Cynthia Walker.
Jennifer Zarate beat Tianta Schwartz in the race for Ellis County District Clerk with 67.68% of the vote.
The seat for Justice of the Peace - Place 3 went to Dan Cox and Justice of the Peace - Place 4 went to James “Butch” Bryant.
Incumbent Randy Bellomy will keep his seat as Ellis County Republican Party Chair with 50.51% of the vote against challenger J.J. Brookshire who received 49.49% of the vote.