By BRITTANY FHOLER
The Belton Journal
Voters began heading to the polls on Monday to cast their vote for the next governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, Railroad Commissioner and more in this year’s General Election.
At the County level, John Mischtian (Republican) is running against Kurt Glass (Democrat) for the position of County Court at Law No. 2.
Early voting started Monday, October 24 and runs through Friday, November 4, 2022. Election Day is Tuesday, November 8, 2022. A total of 4,679 voters turned out to vote on Monday, according to the Daily Early Voting Counts reports on the County website.
Statewide races on this year’s ballot include the closely watched race between Gov. Greg Abbott, the Republican incumbent, and his opponent, Beto O’Rourke, a Democrat who ran against Sen. Ted Cruz in 2018 for the U.S. Senate and served as a U.S. Representative for Texas’s 16th Congressional District from 2013 to 2019. Other candidates in the Governor’s race include Delilah Barrios, of the Green Party, and Mark Tippetts, of the Libertarian Party.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (the Republican incumbent) is facing Democrat Mike Collier and Libertarian Shanna Steele in the race for lieutenant governor.
Attorney General Ken Paxton (Republican incumbent) is facing Democrat Rochelle Garza and Libertarian Mark Ash in the race for attorney general.
Republican incumbent Sid Miller is facing Democrat Susan Hays in the race for Texas Commissioner of Agriculture. Republican incumbent Glenn Hagar is facing Democrat Janet Dudding and V. Alonzo Echevarria-Garza, of the Libertarian Party in the race for Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.
Republican incumbent Wayne Christian is running against Democrat Luke Warford, as well as Jaime Diez of the Libertarian Party and Hunter Crow of the Green Party, for the Texas Railroad Commission.
Former District 24 State Senator Dawn Buckingham is running for Texas Land Commissioner, the office which is currently occupied by George P. Bush. Buckingham is running against two other candidates: Democrat Jay Kleberg and Alfred Molison of the Green Party.
With Buckingham’s seat vacated, Peter P. Flores, of the Republican Party, and Kathy Jones-Hospod, of the Democratic Party, are running against each other for the State Senate District 24 seat.
State Representative Hugh Shine, of Texas House District 55, faces challenger Tristian Sanders, who is a Democrat.
U.S. Representative John Carter of the 31st Congressional District, is running unopposed. Carter has served Texas’ 31st Congressional District since 2003.
Also on the ballot are several Court of Criminal Appeals and Texas Supreme Court seats.
For the position of Texas 3rd Court of Appeals Justice, Place 4, Republican Lesli Fitzpatrick is facing Democrat Rosa Lopez Theofanis.
For the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Place 5, incumbent Republican Scott Walker is facing Democrat Dana Huffman. For the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Place 6, incumbent Republican Jesse McClure is facing Robert Johnson, of the Democratic Party.
On the Texas Supreme Court, incumbent Debra Lehrmann (Republican) is facing Democrat Erin Nowell and Libertarian Tom Oxford for Place 3. Incumbent Rebecca Huddle (Republican) is challenged by Amanda Reichek of the Democratic Party for Place 5. Incumbent Evan Young (Republican) is challenged by Julia Maldonado, of the Democratic Party, for Place 9.
Other races that have been decided due to candidates running unopposed include Mary Lou Keel (Republican) for Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 2; Tom Maynard (Republican) for State Board of Education Member- District 10; Cari Starriott-Burnett (Republican) for District Judge for 169th Judicial District; Paul L. LePak (Republican) for District Judge for 264th Judicial District; Wade Faulkner (Republican) for District Judge for 478th Judicial District; David Blackburn (Republican) for County Judge; Paul A. Motz (Republican) for County Court at Law No. 1; Rebecca Depew (Republican) for County Court At Law No. 3; Joanna Flores Staton (Republican) for District Clerk: Shelley Coston (Republican) for County Clerk; Gaylon Evans (Republican) for County Treasurer; Theodore “Ted” Duffield (Republican) for Justice of the Peace, Precinct No. 1; Cliff Coleman (Republican) for Justice of the Peace, Precinct No. 2; Keith Reed (Republican) for Justice of the Peace, Precinct No. 3, Place 1- Unexpired Term; and Larry Wilkey (Republican) for Justice of the Peace, Precinct No. 3, Place 2.
Early Voting hours are Thursday, October 26 through October 28, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; October 29, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.; October 30 from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.; and October 31 through November 4, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Early Voting will be conducted in person each weekday at the following locations:
Belton – Bell County Courthouse Annex, 550 East 2nd Ave
Killeen – Bell County Annex, 304 Priest Drive
Killeen – Jackson Professional Learning Center, 902 Rev R A Abercrombie Dr.
Killeen – Senior Center @ Lions Club Park, 1700 E. Stan Schlueter Loop, Killeen, TX 76542
Temple – Temple ISD Administration Bldg, 401 Santa Fe Way
Salado – Salado Church of Christ, 217 North Stagecoach
Harker Heights – Parks & Recreation Center, 307 Millers Crossing
