Primary runoff early voting to begin May 18

Early voting in primary runoff elections will begin Monday, May 18, and continue through Friday, May 22. Election day will be Tuesday, May 26.

There will be one local race on the ballot, with Hill County Precinct 4 commissioner candidates Allan Awtrey and David Gelsthorpe back before voters after no candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote in March.

Awtrey received 40 percent of the primary vote, and Gelsthorpe garnered just over 30 percent. Martin Lake, who has held the seat on the court since 2016, did not advance.

With no Democratic challenger in November, the runoff winner will have a clear path to taking office next year.

Statewide, the Republican U.S. Senate race is continuing to a runoff between incumbent John Cornyn and Ken Paxton.

Republicans will also decide their attorney general candidate between Mayes Middleton and Chip Roy, their railroad commissioner candidate between Jim Wright and Bo French and the Court of Criminal Appeals Place 3 race between Alison Fox and Thomas Smith.

The Democratic Party will have a runoff race on the ballot for the U.S. Representative, District 17 spot, but one candidate has suspended her campaign. Milah Flores and Casey Shepard will appear on the ballot, but Flores is no longer seeking the seat.

The Democrats will also have a runoff for attorney general between Nathan Johnson and Joe Jaworski. Vikki Goodwin and Marcos Vélez will be runoff candidates for the Democratic lieutenant governor nomination.

Voters who cast a ballot in March can only vote in the same party’s runoff election this month. Those who did not vote in March can choose to vote in either party’s runoff, as Texans do not have to formally register with a party.

Candidates selected after the runoff elections will continue on to November’s general election.

Early voting will be conducted at three Hill County locations: the Hill County Covington Street Annex, located at 126 South Covington Street in Hillsboro, the Hill County Precinct 1 Annex, located at 5800 Farm Road 933 in Whitney (Huron) and the Hubbard Volunteer Fire Department, located at 116 North Magnolia Avenue in Hubbard.

Early voting hours at the main voting location in Hillsboro will be from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., and the Whitney and Hubbard locations will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Individual polling places will be available throughout the county on runoff election day, Tuesday, May 26.