Texans including Amarillo area residents voted in the Tuesday, March 3 primary elections in Potter and Randall County for local, state and federal positions.
In one of the more closely watched races locally, Holly Jeffreys pulled ahead of Jamie Haynes in the Republican primary to secure her spot in the House District 86 race, after longtime state Rep. John Smithee (R-Amarillo) announced his retirement.
According to preliminary results from Texas Secretary of State elections site with 79 of 79 precincts reporting, Jeffreys had 15,553 votes, or 67%, while Haynes had 8,080 or 33%.
Jeffreys released the following statement on election night after the results were in.
“The people of the Panhandle have spoken, and I am deeply honored by their trust,” Jeffreys said. “I’m going to Austin to fight for our families, our farmers, our ranchers, and our communities. I want to represent every voter in this district, whether you voted for me or not. We’re all part of the Panhandle, and I’m going to fight for every one of us. Now the real work begins.”
The 23,633 total votes were out of 122,296 registered voters, or an estimated voter turnout of 19.32%.
Jeffreys will face Democrat Cullin Knutson in the the November general election.
Potter County election results
Both Potter County Commissioner incumbents on the ballot were edged out by their challengers.
In Precinct 2, Republican incumbent Blair Schaffer had 312 votes, or 48.67% to challenger Jeff Raef’s 329 votes, or 51.33%.
In Precinct 4, Democratic incumbent Warren Coble, Sr. had 333 votes, or 44.82%, while challenger Timothy W. Gassaway had 410 votes, or 55.18%. Jose Perez secured his spot on the Republican side.
In other Potter County races:
Potter County had 11,157 votes out of 57,983 registered voters, or 19.24%.
Most of the other local races on the ballot were unopposed, with several candidates receiving 100% of the vote in their respective primaries to advance to the November election. After Potter County Judge Nancy Tanner announced her retirement, two candidates filed, Michelle Eggleston (R) and Jerri Glover (D), who both secured their spots on the ballot.
Jessica Barrientos (D) will face Stephnie Menke (R) for Potter County District Clerk.
Randall County election results
The race for Randall County Court at Law No. 1 Judge is going to a runoff May 26, between the top two finishers out of five candidates. Paul Herrmann received 4,962 votes, or 29.10%, while Claire Hamker Grammer had 7,381 votes, or 43.29%.
The three other candidates were Quenton Todd Hatter who had 1,993 votes, or 11.69%; Andrew Caleb Smith, who had 1,430 votes or 8.39%; and Dallas McKibben who had 1,286 or 7.54%.
Marie McNutt won the position for Randall County Clerk with 8,897 votes, or 56.30%.
Randall County had 19,153 votes filed out of 100,717 registered voters, or 19.02%.
West Texas state and federal election results
State Rep. Ken King (R) edged out Republican challenger John Browning and will face Heather J. Wallace (D) in House District 88.
State Rep. Caroline Fairly (R) will face Diana Loya (D) in House District 87.
State Sen. Kevin Sparks (R) will face John Betancourt (D) in District 31.
U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson (R) will face Mark Nair (D) in District 13.
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Holly Jeffreys secures Republican ballot spot for District 86
Reporting by Kristina Wood, Amarillo Globe-News / Amarillo Globe-News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
