Nine races bound for runoffs

Locally, GOP contests for US Rep, county clerk, JP3 head to May

Quite a few runoffs will be popping back up on May 26 after all the votes were counted from Tuesday’s Republican and Democratic primary elections.

Republican voters in Medina County will be able to consider seven runoffs, while Democrat voters will have two runoffs.

There are two local races going to runoffs, both on the Republican side. The race for County Clerk will come down to Cindy Modgling Everett and Kimberly Bermea, who were in a tight three-way race along with Jessica Walden. A little over 300 votes separated all three candidates.

And in the Justice of the Peace, Precinct 3 race, Teresa Koch garnered about 45% of the vote, short of the 50%- plus-one-vote needed. She will face Michael Sanchez in a May runoff.

Across the state, there are some high-profile runoff races on the way, the biggest of which is for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senator. In an eight-candidate race, incumbent John Cornyn received 41% of the statewide vote, with 40% going to his main challenger, Attorney General Ken Paxton. The AG carried Medina County by a 700+ vote margin.

A runoff is also in the works, for the second straight time, between incumbent Tony Gonzales and challenger Brandon Herrera, for the U.S. Representative, District 23 seat. This time, Herrera had the early edge, leading the expansive District 23 by 900 votes. Herrera had a 100-vote margin in Medina County, But with four candidates, neither could gather the needed majority. The winner of the runoff will face Democrat Katy Padilla Stout, who secured a majority in her four-person primary.

Other statewide Republican runoff elections include, for Attorney General, Chip Roy and Mayes Middleton, vying to win the seat being vacated by Paxton in his Senate campaign; and for Railroad Commissioner,incumbent Jim Wright and challenger Bo French.

There is also one district race, for Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 3, where Thomas Smith and Alison Fox will battle it out again in May.

The only incumbent dealt a statewide primary loss was Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, who was defeated by Nate Sheets.

On the Democratic side, there will be a runoff for the nominee for Lieutenant Governor, between Vikki Goodwin and Marcos Isaias Velez; and for Attorney General, between Nathan Johnson and Joe Jaworski.

Both Governor Greg Abbott and Lt. Governor Dan Patrick enjoyed winning percentages in the 80s against large fields of challengers. Gina Hinojosa also won easily, gaining over 50% of the vote for the nomination to be the Democratic candidate for governor.

Perhaps the statewide race generating the most buzz was for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senator, where State Rep. James Talarico pulled away for a win over Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett. 

Locally, there will be three contested Medina County races on the November ballot. Incumbent County Treasurer Debra Graff will face challenger Cathy Coker; for Justice of the Peace, Pct. 1, incumbent Phillip Lange will take on Al Anaya; and for County Commissioner, Pct. 2, incumbent Larry Sittre, who won his contested primary, will go up against Eli Arroyo. 

In the May runoff elections, any voters in the March 3 primary may only vote in the runoffs for the same party for which they cast a ballot this week. Any registered voter who did not vote in the primary may participate in the runoff for either party.

A total of 9,803 voters cast their ballots in Medina County, including totals from Election Day, early voting and from absentee ballots. Of that total, 6,918 voted in the Republican primary and 2,885 cast ballots in the Democratic primary.

There were a total of 6,079 early voters with 273 ballots by mail. With 39,520 registered voters in the county (according to the Secretary of State’s website), the total number of voters represents a turnout of 24.8%.

Complete Medina County primary election results can be found in the accompanying chart, The voting totals in the chart represent only Medina County. Statewide totals may be viewed on the Texas Secretary of State’s website.