Early voting opens Monday

Early voting begins Monday for the Republican and Democratic primary runoff elections with races for state seats on the ballot. 

The runoff election will be held Tuesday, May 26. The winners of the runoff elections will be that party’s nominee in the upcoming November election.

Early voting will be held from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. May 18-22 at the Jack County Courthouse Assembly Room 104, located at 100 N. Main St. in Jacksboro.

Election day voting will be held from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Jack County Courthouse, Bryson Senior Citizens Building at 201 S. College St. in Bryson, Jack County Fair Barn at 1072 Hwy. 59 in Jacksboro and Perrin Church of Christ at 105 W. Eberhart St. in Perrin.

The last day to apply for a ballot by mail is Friday, May 15.

Ballots by mail must be returned by 7 p.m. on election day if the envelope is not postmarked, or by 5 p.m. the following business day if the envelope is postmarked by 7 p.m. at the location of the election on election day (unless overseas or military voter deadlines apply).

Those who voted in the Republican or Democratic primary earlier this year can only vote in the same party’s runoff election. Voters who did not vote in March may vote in either party’s runoff election.

On the ballot
Both Republican and Democratic candidates in statewide races will face off again after failing to secure more than half of votes cast in the March primary elections.

Republican runoffs:
• U.S. Senate: Ken Paxton and John Cornyn 
• Texas attorney general: Mayes Middleton and Chip Roy
• Texas Railroad Commission: Bo French and Jim Wright
• Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Place 3: Alison Fox and Thomas Smith

Democratic runoffs:
• Lieutenant governor: Marcos Isaias Velez and Vikki Goodwin
• Attorney general: Nathan Johnson and Joe Jaworski

Jack County primaries
A total of 1,654 of 5,813 registered voters in Jack County, or 38.45%, cast their ballot in the Tuesday, March 3 Republican and Democratic primary elections. 

On the local ticket, Republican candidate for 271st Judicial District Judge Andrew Lloyd (53.16%) defeated opponent Paul Belew (46.84%) for the party’s nomination. No opponents ran for the seat in the Democratic primary election.

Candidate for Jack County Precinct 2 Commissioner Ronald Fitzgerald (51.54%) also won the Republican Party nomination after defeating opponents Bob Ricks (36.41%) and Mandy Estes Horn (12.05%) in the primaries. No opponent from the Democratic Party ran for the seat.

Fitzgerald was appointed Friday, April 24 to fill the remaining term of outgoing Commissioner Amy Salazar. Salazar stepped down after being appointed to her seat in early 2025 when her husband died while serving in office.

Other uncontested county primary races included Tracie Pippin for District Clerk, Vanessa James for County Clerk, Brad Campsey for County Treasurer, Jessica Bailey for Justice of the Peace, John Berry for Republican Party County Chair and John Barry, IV for Democratic Party County Chair.

The race for Jack County Judge was also uncontested in the primaries, with incumbent Keith Umphress facing no opposition from either the Republican or Democratic parties.

Bobby Miles announced Saturday, May 9 his intent to challenge Umphress as a write-in candidate for the office of county judge. 

The first day to file for a declaration of write-in candidacy in the general election for state and county officers is Saturday, July 18, and the last day to file a declaration of write-in candidacy is Monday, Aug. 17.

Following primary runoff elections later this month, Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3.