Spiller forces runoff for District 68 State Rep. seat

Jacksboro attorney David Spiller was the top vote getter both region wide and in Jack County for the District 68 State Rep. seat in an election held Saturday.

The seat was vacated when former State Rep. Drew Springer went on to become a State Senator late last year. Regionwide in the voting area, Spiller had 4,010 votes or around 44 percent of the vote.

Because Spiller did not pick up 50 percent of the vote, he will go into a runoff with Nocona businessman Craig Carter, who had 1,651 votes, or 18 percent of the vote.

Three other candidates took part, including Jacksboro financial planner John Berry, who was just 57 votes behind Carter in the region with 1,594 votes. Cooke County Judge Jason Brinkley was fourth with 1,489 votes. Democrat Charles Gregory had 395 votes.

In Jack County, Spiller had 695 votes followed by Berry with 294. Carter was 3rd with 70 votes, Gregory with 17 and Brinkley with 16.

It was unclear when the runoff election will be held. Spiller said in a Sunday text that the Governor was expected to call it sometime this week. It needs to be held before Feb. 27.