Local incumbents largely had a good night when primary votes were tallied Tuesday, March 3, but the Hill County Precinct 4 commissioner’s race is headed to a May runoff.
With no Democratic challenger in November, incumbent Justin Lewis won the race for the district judge’s seat with about 57% of the vote. Lewis served as Hill County judge for over 18 years before being appointed to the 66th District bench by Governor Greg Abbott last year. Hillsboro attorney Stephanie Johnson was challenging Lewis for the seat.
The county treasurer’s race was also decided on election night with no Democratic candidates filing.
Incumbent Rachel Parker was the winner with 65% of the vote. Parker was elected to her position in 2022 after serving as an assistant county auditor. Peggy Mann Lidster was challenging her for the treasurer’s position.
One county commissioner race was also decided, with incumbent Larry Crumpton winning the Precinct 2 race with 81% of the vote. Alpha “Gigi” Bailey Ward was also seeking the commissioner’s seat. Crumpton is a Peoria resident and has served the precinct since 2015.
A three-way race for Precinct 4 commissioner is headed to a May 26 runoff election after no candidate received over 50% of the vote. Allan Awtrey received 40% of the vote, and David Gelsthorpe garnered just over 30%. Martin Lake, who has held the commissioner’s seat since 2016, will not advance.
In the hotly contested race for the District 13 Texas House seat sought by incumbent Angelia Orr and Kat Wall, Orr was the overall winner with 61% of the vote in Hill County and almost 56% district wide. Orr, an Itasca resident, is currently serving her second term in the House. The House race will continue to November with Democrat Albert Hunter running in the general election.
Hill County voters joined with the rest of the state in selecting party candidates at the top of the Republican and Democratic ballots. Both parties had United States Senate races that drew voters to the polls.
Statewide, the Republican Senate race was expected to head to a runoff between incumbent John Cornyn and Ken Paxton. In Hill County, 43% of Republicans selected Cornyn as their preferred Senate candidate, and Paxton received just over 39% of the vote. The future of that race was unclear as of press time, as President Donald Trump had indicated he was preparing to endorse one of the Senate candidates and ask the other to drop out of the race.
Hill County Democrats were in favor of James Talarico as their Senate candidate, and he received 53% of the vote over Jasmine Crockett, with approximately 46%. Statewide, Talarico claimed over 52% of the Democratic vote.
Voters will have several runoff races to decide Tuesday, May 26. In addition to the local race for Precinct 4 commissioner and the US Senate race, if it continues to a runoff, Republicans statewide will also choose their attorney general candidate between Mayes Middleton (39%) and Chip Roy (32%), railroad commissioner candidate between Jim Wright (32%) and Bo French (32%), and the Court of Criminal Appeals Place 3 race between Alison Fox (31%) and Thomas Smith (31%).
The Democratic Party will have a runoff to decide the US Representative, District 17 candidate, after Milah Flores received just under 43% of the statewide vote and Casey Shepard received just over 32%. The Democrats will also have a runoff for attorney general, with Nathan Johnson and Joe Jaworski both coming in under 50% with 48% and 26% of the vote, respectively. Vikki Goodwin (48%) and Marcos Velez (32%) will head to the Democratic runoff for the lieutenant governor nomination.
Statewide, Texas voters surpassed recent midterm turnout records. With energetic Senate races on both sides, nearly one in four registered voters cast a ballot in the Texas primaries.
According to the Texas Secretary of State, 22.16% of Hill County’s registered voters cast ballots in the Republican primary, and 4.27% cast ballots in the Democratic primary. In the last midterm primaries in 2022, 18.39% of the county’s voters cast ballots on the Republican side, and 2.06% voted in the Democratic primary.
After the 2026 election cycle wraps up with November’s general election, most elected officials will begin their terms in January 2027.
The Lakelander 