The results are in ... unofficially
With 14 of the 14 precincts reporting and 100 percent of the votes recorded in Grimes County, the unofficial cumulative results for the March 3 primary election are as follows.
Local Elections Clean Sweep
It was a clean sweep for current elected officials within Grimes County. There were four contested races within the County with the opponent in one of the races being deemed ineligible.
Grimes County Sheriff
Grimes County Sheriff Donald G. Sowell has had an opponent each time he has run for office and each time he has prevailed. Sowell defeated challenger and fellow Republican, Travis Higginbotham who put his hat in the race for Sheriff for the first time.
Sowell received 77.43 percent (3,002) votes over Higginbotham who had 22.57 percent (875).
The win secures another four-year term for Sowell who has currently served Grimes County for over 21-years. Even after this win Sowell has his eye on 2024. “Thank y’all for everything. Now we’re going to work on 2024. We’re making it official right now,” stated Sowell.
Grimes County Constable Pct. 3&4
The closest contested race was that of Incumbent Wes Male and challenger Preston Goode in the Grimes County Constable Pct 3&4 race.
Only 117 votes separated the two with Male earning another term with 55.06 percent (637) votes and Goode receiving 44.94 percent with votes.
“I’m just so excited and blessed that the people of my community have supported me and reelected me to be their constable for another term. It’s a privilege and an honor to serve the citizens of precinct 3 and 4 and I am so blessed that I got reelected tonight. I want to thank them wholeheartedly from the bottom of my heart for keeping me in office,” said Male.
Grimes County Commissioner Pct. 1
There were two contested races for County Commissioner. The first was for Pct. 1. Republican Incumbent Chad Mallett won the majority vote with 67.84 percent (827) votes and Republican challenger Randall Griffin received 32.16 percent (392) votes.
“I just really appreciate the faith the citizens have in me to elect me for another four years. I’m going to work hard for them and we’re going continue to steer the growth in the right direction and make sure to be good stewards of the taxpayers’ money,” stated Mallett.
Grimes County Commissioner Pct. 3
Incumbent Barbara Walker won her third term in office. Fellow Democratic challenger Michael Raska was deemed ineligible by the Fourteenth Court of Appeals for not being registered to vote in Pct 3.
Although Raska was deemed ineligible but the Fourteenth Court of Appeals didn’t order his name to be removed from the ballot.
Walker prevailed with 83.96 percent (246) votes while Raska received 16.04 percent (47) votes.
Unopposed County Races
Other races that were unopposed in Grimes County were that of District Attorney, 506th Judicial District retained by Republican Andria Bender; County Attorney retained by Democrat Jon C. Fultz; Tax Assessor-Collector retained by Republican Mary Ann Waters; County Constable Precinct 1 retained by Republican Dale Schaper; Constable Precinct 2 retained by Republican Blake Jarvis. County Chairman-Republican Susan Patrick retains her position; County ChairmanDemocratic James Harris retains his position.
“I think Donald Trump is in really good shape to win in November,” proclaimed Patrick
“I’m glad that we had plenty of people to turn out for the Democrat party. I haven’t looked at my sheets, so I don’t know how many people we had exactly, but I see that Biden did win the presidential candidacy 503 votes and Jon C. Fultz 901 and the county chair 901. I’m going to hold all my comments for November,” stated Harris.
President Republican Ticket
For Grimes County the results on the Republican ticket for early voting showed Donald J. Trump having 1,559 votes, Matthew John Mattern having 9 votes, Joe Walsh having 8 votes, Bob Ely having four votes, Roque “Rocky” De La Fuente Guerra having two votes, Bill Weld having one vote, and Zoltan G. Istvan having zero votes. There were 45 uncommitted voters for the Republican ticket in early voting.
On Election Day, 2,354 Grimes County citizens marked their ballots with 2,261 votes going to Trump, 18 votes going to Mattern, 12 votes going to Walsh, 10 votes going to Guerra, 8 votes going to Weld, one vote going to Ely, and one going to Zoltan G. Istvan. There were 43 uncommitted voters for the Republican ticket on Election Day.
In total, Grimes County cast 3,982 votes totaling 98.37 percent, 3,820 votes for Trump totaling 95.93 percent, 27 votes for Mattern totaling 0.68 percent, 20 votes for Walsh totaling 0.50 percent, 12 votes for Guerra totaling 0.30 percent, 9 votes for Weld totaling 0.23 percent, five votes for Ely totaling 0.13 percent, and one vote for Istvan totaling 0.03 percent.
President Democratic Ticket
For Grimes County, the results on the Democratic ticket for early voting showed Joseph R. Biden having 143 votes, Michael R. Bloomberg having 102 votes, Bernie Sanders having 79 votes, Elizabeth Warren having 35, Pete Buttigieg having 30, Amy Klobuchar having 11, Tom Steyer having 10, Robby Wells having 3, Cory Booker, Julian Castro and Roque “Rocky” De La Fuente all having two votes, Andrew Yang and Tulsi Gabbard both having one vote and John K. Delaney, Michael Bennet and Marianne Williamson having zero votes.
On Election Day, 680 Grimes County citizens marked their ballots with 360 votes going to Biden, 167 votes going to Sanders, 75 votes going to Bloomberg, 55 votes going to Warren, six votes going to Steyer, four votes going to Fuente, two votes going to each Cory Booker, Michael Bennet, Marianne Williamson and Robby Wells, one vote going to each Deval Patrick, Pete Buttigieg, John K. Delaney, Tulsi Gabbard and Julian Castro and zero votes going to Andrew Yang and Amy Klobuchar
In total, Grimes County cast 1,101 votes totaling 96.75 percent, 503 votes for Biden totaling 45.69 percent, 246 votes for Sanders totaling 22.34 percent, 177 votes for Bloomberg totaling 16.08 percent, 90 votes for Warren totaling 8.17 percent, 31 votes for Buttigieg totaling 2.82 percent, 16 votes for Steyer totaling 1.45 percent, 11 votes for Klobuchar totaling 1.00 percent, six votes for Fuente totaling 0.54 percent, five votes for Wells totaling 0.45 percent, four votes Booker totaling 0.63 percent, three votes for Castro totaling 0.27 percent, two votes for Bennet, Gabbard and Williamson each totaling 0.18 percent, and one vote each for Patrick, Yang, and Delaney totaling 0.09 percent per candidate.
United States Senator Republican Ticket
In early voting, Grimes County residents placed a total of 1,566 votes with 1,169 votes going to John Cornyn, 217 votes going to Stovall, 95 votes going to Mark Yancey, 67 votes going to John Anthony Castro and 18 votes going to Virgil Bierschwale.
On Election Day, 2,248 Grimes County citizens marked their ballots with 1,486 votes to Cornyn, 408 votes to Stovall, 185 votes to Yancey, 136 votes going to Castro, and 33 votes to Bierschwale.
In total, Grimes County cast 3,814 votes totaling 94.22 percent, 2,655 votes for Comyn totaling 69.61 percent, 625 votes for Stovall totaling 16.39 percent, 280 votes for Yancey totaling 7.34 percent, 203 votes for Castro totaling 5.32 percent and 51 votes for Bierschwale totaling 1.34 percent.
United States Senator Democrat Ticket
In early voting, Grimes County residents placed a total of 390 votes with 118 votes going to Mary “MJ” Hegar, 75 votes going to Royce West, 63 votes going to Chris Bell, 27 votes going to Annie “Mama” Garcia, 25 votes going to Cristina Tzintzun Ramirez, 23 votes going to Amanda K. Edwards, 16 votes going to Michael Cooper, 15 votes going to Sema Hernandez, 12 votes going to Victor Hugo Harris, 11 votes going to Jack Daniel Foster Jr., four votes going to Adrian Ocegueda, and one vote going to D.R. Hunter.
On Election Day, 611 Grimes County citizens marked their ballots with, 168 votes to Hegar, 97 votes to West, 88 votes to Bell, 48 votes to Edwards, 45 votes to both Garcia and Ramirez, 35 votes going to Hernandez, 28 votes going to Harris, 25 votes to Foster, 14 votes going to Hunter, 11 votes going to Cooper and 7 votes to Ocegueda.
In total, Grimes County cast 1,001 votes totaling 87.96 percent, 286 votes for Hegar totaling 28.57 percent, 172 votes for West totaling 17.18 percent, 151 votes for Bell totaling 15.08 percent, 72 votes for Garcia totaling 7.19 percent, 71 votes for Edwards totaling 7.09 percent, 70 votes for Ramirez totaling 6.99 percent, 50 votes for Hernandez totaling 5.00 percent, 40 votes to Harris totaling 4.00 percent, 36 votes for Foster totaling 3.60 percent, 27 votes for Cooper totaling 2.70 percent, 15 votes going to Hunter totaling 1.50 percent and 11 votes totaling 1.10 percent
United States Representative, District 8 Republican Ticket
In early voting, Grimes County residents placed a total of 1,601 votes with 1,381 going to incumbent Kevin Brady, 168 going to Kirk Osborn, and 52 going to Melissa Esparza-Mathis.
On Election Day, 2,283 voters spread their vote among the candidates by giving 1,879 votes to Brady, 292 votes to Osborn, and 112 votes to Mathis.
In total, Grimes County cast 3,884 votes totaling 95.95 percent, 3,260 votes for Brady totaling 83.93 percent, 460 votes for Osborn totaling 11.84 percent and 164 votes for Mathis totaling 4.22 percent.
United States Representative, District 8 Democrat Ticket
In early voting, Grimes County residents placed a total of 374 votes, 195 votes going to Laura Jones and 179 votes going to Elizabeth Hernandez.
On Election Day, 579 voters spread their vote among the candidates by giving 304 votes to Jones and 275 votes to Mathis.
In total, Grimes County cast 953 votes totaling 83.74 percent, 499 votes for Jones totaling 52.36 percent and 454 votes for Hernandez totaling 47.64 percent.
Railroad Commissioner
For Grimes County, the results of the Republican ticket for Railroad Commissioner showed James Jim Wright at 65.03 percent of the total votes and Ryan Sitton at 34.97 percent.
The results of the Democratic ticket for Railroad Commissioner showed Chrysta Castaneda at 29.18 percent, Kelly Stone at 27.59 percent, Mark Watson at 22.09 percent and Roberto R. “Beto” Alonzo at 21.14 percent
Chief Justice Supreme Court
For Grimes County, the results of the Republican ticket for Chief Justice Supreme Court showed Nathan Hecht with 3,228 votes totaling 79.74 percent.
For Grimes County, the results of the Democrat ticket showed Amy Clark Meachum with 759 votes totaling 83.33 percent and Jerry Zimmer with 159 votes totaling 16.67 percent.
Justice, Supreme Court, Place 6 Unexpired Term
For Grimes County, the results of the Republican ticket for Justice Supreme Court, Place 6 showed Jane Bland with 3,213 votes totaling 79.37 percent.
The Grimes County Democrat ticket for Justice Supreme Court, Place 6 showed Kathy Cheng with 666 votes totaling 71.15 percent and Larry Praeger with 270 votes totaling 28.85.
Justice, Supreme Court, Place 7
For Grimes County, the results of the Republican ticket for Justice Supreme Court, Place 7 gave Jeff Boyd 3,281 votes totaling 81.05 percent.
For the democrat ticket, Staci Williams received 675 votes totaling 71.21 percent and Brandy Voss with 261 votes totaling 27.88 percent.
Justice, Supreme Court, Place 8
For Grimes County, the results of the Republican ticket for Justice Supreme Court, Place 8, Brett Busby received 3,275 votes totaling 80.90 percent.
For the Democrat ticket Gisela D. Triana received 470 votes totaling 50.32 percent and Peter Kelly received 464 votes totaling 46.68 percent.
Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 3
For Grimes County the results of the Republican ticket, voters placed a total of 3,347 votes, 1,797 votes going to Bert Richardson totaling 53.69 percent and Gina Parker with 1,550 votes totaling 46.31 percent.
For the Grimes County Democrat ticket Elizabeth Davis Frizell received 737 votes totaling 67.19 percent, Dan Wood with 205 votes totaling 21.63 percent and William Pieratt Demond with 106 votes totaling 11.18 percent.
Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 4
Grimes County voters For Grimes County, the results of the Republican ticket for Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 4 showed Kevin Patrick Yearly with 3,251 votes totaling 80.31 percent.
For Grimes County, the results of the Democrat for Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 4 showed Tina Clinton with 760 votes totaling 81.46 percent and Steven Mears with 173 votes totaling 18.54 percent.
Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 9
Grimes County voters For Grimes County, the results of the Republican ticket for Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 9 showed David Newell with 3,245 votes totaling 80.16 percent.
For Grimes County, the results of the Democrat for Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 9 showed Brandon Birmingham with 838 votes totaling 73.64 percent.
Member, State Board of Education, District 8
Republican candidate Audrey Young ran unopposed during the primary election and will run unopposed during the November election for District 8 member of the State Board of Education.
State Representative, District 13
Republican incumbent Ben Leman ran unopposed during the primary election and will run unopposed during the November election for State Representative, District 13.
Chief Justice, 14th Court of Appeals District
Republican candidate Tracy Elizabeth Christopher took 3,250 votes totaling 82.34 percent.
Democratic candidates Jane Robinson with 599 votes totaling 63.93 percent and Jim Evans with 338 votes totaling 56.07 percent.
Justice, 1st Court of Appeals District, Place 3 Republican Russell Lloyd
Republican Russell Lloyd will face Democrat Veronica Rivas-Molloy in the November election for the third-place Justice of the 1st Court of Appeals District.
Justice, 1st Court of Appeals District, Place 5
Democrat Amparo Monique Guerra will face Republican Terry Adams in the November election for the fifth-place Justice of the 1st Court of Appeals District.
Justice, 14th Court of Appeals District, Place 7
Republican Ken Wise is running unopposed for the position of Justice, 14th Court of Appeals District, Place 7.
Cheri Thomas 36.15 percent (334) votes and Tamika “Tami” Craft 28.68 percent (265) received the top number of votes in the Democratic ticket for Justice of 14th Court of Appeals District, Place 7 and will have a runoff May 26. Others receiving votes V.R Faulkner 11.36 percent (105), Lennon C. Wright 9.09 percent (84) Dominic J. Moreno 8.66 percent (80) and Wally Kroner 6.06 percent (56).
District Judge, 12th Judicial District
Republican David Moorman is running unopposed for the position of district judge in the 12th Judicial District.
District Judge, 506th Judicial District
Republican Gary W. Chaney is running unopposed for the position of district judge in the 506th Judicial District.
District Attorney, 506th Judicial District
Republican Andria Bender is running unopposed for the position of district attorney in the 506th Judicial District.
County Attorney
Democrat Jon C. Fultz is running unopposed for the position of county attorney for Grimes County.
Sheriff
Republican incumbent Donald G. Sowell received 3,002 votes during for 77.43 percent majority over Republican challenger Travis Higginbotham’s 875 votes totaling 22.57 percent.
Tax Assessor-Collector
Republican Mary Ann Waters is running unopposed for the position of Tax Assessor-Collector for Grimes County.
County Commissioner Precinct 1
Republican incumbent Chad Mallett received 827 of the 1,219 total votes in his area and secure a majority with 67.84 percent. Also running on the Republican ticket were Randall Griffin who received 392 votes totaling 32.16 percent.
County Commissioner Precinct 3
Democratic incumbent Barbara Walker received 246 of the total 293 votes in her area for an 83.96 percent majority. Democratic challenger Michael Raska received 47 votes for 16.04 percent.
County Constable Precinct 1
Republican Dale Schaper is running unopposed for the position of Constable Precinct 1.
Constable Precinct 2
Republican Blake Jarvis is running unopposed for the position of Constable Precinct 2.
Constable Precinct 3
Republican incumbent Wes Male received 637 of the 1,157 total votes in his area and secured a majority with 55.06 percent. Also running on the Republican ticket were Preston Goode who received 520 votes totaling 44.94 percent.
County Chairman
Susan Patrick ran unopposed for the position of Republican Party County Chairman.
James D. Harris ran unopposed for the position of Democratic Party County Chairman.
Proposition 1 - Texas should not restrict or prohibit prayer in public schools.
Grimes County Republicans voted 90.16 percent for yes and 9.84 percent for no.
Grimes County Democrats voted 94.33 percent for yes and 5.67 for no.
Proposition 2 - Texas should reject restrictions on the right to keep and bear arms.
Grimes County Republicans voted 89.75 percent for yes and 10.25 percent for no.
Grimes County Democrats voted 94.09 percent for yes and 5.91 for no.
Proposition 3 - Texas should ban the practice of taxpayer-funded lobbying, which allows your tax dollars to be spent on lobbyists who work against the taxpayer.
Grimes County Republicans voted 93.46 percent for yes and 6.54 percent for no.
Grimes County Democrats voted 96.60 percent for yes and 3.40 percent for no.
Proposition 4 - Texas should support the construction of a physical barrier and use existing defense-grade surveillance equipment along the entire southern border of Texas.
Grimes County Republicans voted 95.96 percent for yes and 4.04 percent for no.
Grimes County Democrats voted 94.15 percent for yes and 5.85 percent for no.
Proposition 5 - Texas parents or legal guardians of public school children under the age of 18 should be the sole decision makers for all their children’s healthcare decisions including, but not limited to, psychological assessment and treatment, contraception, and sex education.
Grimes County Republicans voted 91.80 percent for yes and 8.20 percent for no.
Grimes County Democrats voted 96.51 percent for yes and 3.49 percent for no.
Proposition 6 - Texas should ban chemical castration, puberty blockers, crosssex hormones, and genital mutilation surgery on all minor children for transition purposes, given that Texas children as young as three (3) are being transitioned from their biological sex to the opposite sex.
Grimes County Republicans voted 95.41 percent for yes and 4.59 percent for no.
Grimes County Democrats voted 95.80 percent for yes and 4.20 percent for no.
Proposition 7 - Texans should protect and preserve all historical monuments, artifacts, and buildings, such as the Alamo Cenotaph and our beloved Alamo, and should oppose any reimagining of the Alamo site.
Grimes County Republicans voted 98.89 percent for yes and 1.11 percent for no.
Grimes County Democrats voted 94.15 percent for yes and 5.85 percent for no.
Proposition 8 - Texas election officials should heed the directives of the Office of the Governor to purge illegal voters from the voter rolls and verify that each new registered voter is a U.S. Citizen.
Grimes County Republicans voted 98.81 percent for yes and 1.19 percent for no.
Grimes County Democrats voted 95.34 percent for yes and 4.66 percent for no.
Proposition 9 - Bail in Texas should be based only on a person’s danger to society and risk of flight, not that person’s ability to pay.
Grimes County Republicans voted 95.62 percent for yes and 4.38 percent for no.
Grimes County Democrats voted 96.69 percent for yes and 3.31 percent for no.
Proposition 10 - Texas should limit our state legislators’ terms to 12 years.
Grimes County Republicans voted 93.07 percent for yes and 6.93 percent for no.
Grimes County Democrats voted 94.49 percent for yes and 5.51 percent for no.
Proposition 11 - Should Texas establish equitable taxation for people at all income levels and for businesses and corporations, large and small, so our state government can fund our educational, social, infrastructure, business, in all government services to improve programs necessary for all Texans to thrive.
Grimes County Democrats voted 92.34 percent for yes and 7.66 percent for no.