Early voting for primary runoffs of local, state election races starts Monday
Early voting for local and state primary runoffs begins throughout the state on Monday. There will be five locations available to cast votes in Potter and Randall County during the early voting period.
This year, 50 primary races are headed to runoffs, according to the Texas Tribune, including statewide races for attorney general, lieutenant governor, land commissioner, comptroller and railroad commissioner. Early voting runs Monday through Friday, with Election Day for the runoffs on May 24.
Local races include precincts two and four of the Randall County Commissioners’ Court and Justice of the Peace Precinct Four in the Republican runoffs. Precinct Four voters have a runoff vote for the Potter County Commissioner’s Court in the Democratic primary.
Randall County Republican ballot
Precinct Two: Eric Barry and Terry Wright
With Mark Benton, commissioner of precinct 2, stepping down, Barry received 37% of the vote with 1,995 votes to Wright's 1,224 votes out of 5,274 total votes in the March Primary.
Professional singer and insurance director Barry advocates keeping tax rates low while keeping proper maintenance of county facilities and buildings with good custodianship of county funds.
Wright, with his 38 years of business experience as a trust officer and manager, stresses a proactive approach to growth with a watchful eye toward tax diligence.
Precinct Four: Tam Boatler and Melissa Kalka
Boatler came up just shy of the majority vote needed to win the March Primary with 48% of the vote to Kalka's 30%. Total votes cast in the primary election were 3,758, with 1,789 going to Boatler and 1,114 going to Kalka.
As a retired Amarillo Police Department captain, Boatler brings 42 years of law enforcement and 10 years of Republican chair experience to the open seat, His priorities are law enforcement and public safety, but he states that other departments would not be neglected.
Kalka has worked for the West Texas A&M University Enterprise Center, former Congressman Mac Thornberry’s office, and the Texas Panhandle War Memorial Center. She cites her experience working within Thornberry's office gave her great insight into how government works and gives her an advantage in helping to bring new business to Amarillo for development.
Justice of the Peace Precinct Four: Kyle Balke and Joanna Garcia Flores
Balke, the incumbent, was forced to a runoff with Flores with only 41% of the primary ballots cast for him, while Flores mustered 31% of the votes out of the 11,944 cast in the race.
For the past three years, Balke has been the appointed justice of the peace in the precinct after 29 years in the education system. Balke has been a big proponent of getting the courts back to in-person proceedings as we came out of the worst parts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Flores has more than 30 years of legal experience In 2005, she was appointed by the late Randall County Judge Ernie Houdashell to serve as Interim Justice of the Peace in Randall County, Precinct 4. She served as a clerk and administrator in the office of the justice of the peace as well. Transparency of the court and the way it is run is a significant part of her campaign.
Potter County Democratic ballot
Precinct four- Warren Coble Jr. and Melodie Graves
In the closest race of all the local March Primaries, Coble eeked out a 15-vote victory over Graves, with a 179 to 164 advantage over his opponent in a precinct election that only had 463 votes cast in total.
Graves as the North Heights Advisory Association President has made the revitalization of her district a priority, along with increased access to social and economic services for her community.
Coble, director of Hilltop Center for senior citizens in the district and a former deputy, stresses mental health access for citizens and the issue of difficulty in getting public defender representation in the justice system for the community.
Judicial seat runoff
One other Republican primary election is available to Potter, Randall and Armstrong County voters is for the 47th Judicial District Judge seat, with a runoff between Dee Johnson and Joe Marr Wilson.
In a bid to take over retiring Judge Dan Schaap's 47th District seat, Johnson took 45% of the vote over her closest opponent Wilson, who had 35% of the 24,161 votes cast in the March primary election.
Both candidates are practicing lawyers with more than 30 years of legal experience. Johnson is a partner with Packard, Hood, Johnson & Paul, and has been with the firm since 1997. She was an associate at two other firms from 1991 to 1997. Wilson has been a trial lawyer in Amarillo for three decades.
Johnson's stated priories are to protect constitutional rights and public safety with the timely disposition of her duties. Wilson has stated he would like to fix the broken system of litigants being able to get their day in court in a timely manner and says that he brings a unique perspective with the diversity of his cases as a trial lawyer. Both candidates have expressed support for mental health diversion programs, with Johnson firmly supporting special courts for mental health and veteran issues.
The League of Women Voters offers a voting guide that can be found at https://www.vote411.org/ to find out more about candidates on your ballot.
For more information on voting in Potter County, go to https://www.pottercountyvotes.com/ and for Randall County, go to
https://www.randallcounty.gov/166/Election-Administration
Statewide runoffs
In statewide runoffs, Land Commissioner George P. Bush is challenging incumbent Ken Paxton for the Republican attorney general nomination, while Rochelle Garza and Joe Jaworski will face off for the Democratic nomination in that race.
Dawn Buckingham and Tim Westley will compete for the Republican nomination for land commissioner, while Jay Kleberg and Sandragrace Martinez are each seeking the Democratic nomination to that seat.
Sarah Stogner is challenging incumbent Republican Wayne Christian for a spot on the Railroad Commission. Michelle Beckley and Mike Collier will compete for the Democratic lieutenant governor position, and Janet T. Dudding and Angel Luis Vega will face off for the Democratic nomination for comptroller.
Where to vote during early voting period, May 16-20
In Potter County, residents can vote early in the following locations:
Santa Fe Building (Main), First Floor, Ticket Office at 900 S. Polk St.
May 16-18: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; May 19-20: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Casey Carpet One, Main Entrance, 3500 I-40 West Frontage Road
May 16-20: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Tri-State Fairgrounds, Arched Gate No. 1 at 3301 SE 10th St.
May 16-20: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Cornerstone Outreach, Main entrance, Fellowship Room at 1111 N. Buchanan St.
May 16-20: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Northwest Branch Amarillo Public Library, Meeting Room at 6100 Southwest Ninth Ave.
May 16-20: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
In Randall County, residents can vote early in the following locations:
Randall County Election Administration Office, 1604 Fifth Ave. in Canyon
May 16-20: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Randall County Annex, 4320 South Western St.
May 16-20: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Southwest Branch Library, 6801 West 45th Ave.
May 16-20: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Comanche Trail Church of Christ, 2700 East 34th
May 16-20: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Randall County Justice Center, 2309 Russell Long Blvd.
May 16-20: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Early voting in Texas Panhandle election runoffs starts Monday
