TYLER COUNTY – The midterm election period has come to a conclusion, and Tyler County voters really showed up to the polls.
For the early voting period, alone, 4,410 voters cast their ballots. Tyler County Judge Milton Powers called the turnout “outstanding,” and said “I am so proud of Tyler County,” after the early voting numbers were in. In total, after Tuesday, there were 7,364 Tyler Countian ballots in the election, casting ballots on a number of statewide, regional and local races. Around 60% of the county’s voters voted early, and 223 cast absentee ballots. At this time, 19 out of 21 precincts have reported and the absentee ballots have been counted.
At the statewide level, more than 40% of registered Texas voters cast their ballot during the early voting period, which surpassed the modern record set in 2018, according to reporting from the Secretary of State’s office. That number accounts for more than 7.7 million Texans. Also of note: more than 19 million Texans were registered to vote ahead of this election, which is up 2.2% from the 2024 presidential election.
One of the high-stakes contests up on the ballot that gained plenty of national attention was that of the Senate race between Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton and Democratic challenger James Talarico. Talarico won the race with 55.5% of the vote to Paxton’s 43%. The race made history, as it represented the first time Texans had elected a Democrat to statewide office in more than 30 years. Talarico maintained a sizable early lead, and at last count, an estimated 97.85% of the votes were counted, with Talarico earning 5.4 million votes to Paxton’s 4.2 million.
Other races that resulted in surprise upsets included the gubernatorial race pitting incumbent Republican Greg Abbott against Democratic challenger Gina Hinojosa. Hinojosa earned 52.8% of the vote, or more than 5.2 million votes, to Abbott’s 45.7%, or 4.5 million votes. Abbott conceded the race to his opponent by 10 p.m. on Tuesday.
Other new faces in Texas leadership after Tuesday include Democrats Vikki Goodwin, who defeated incumbent Republican Dan Patrick for the Lieutenant Governor seat and Nathan Johnson, who defeated Mayes Middleton to serve as the state’s new attorney general.
For the TX-36 congressional seat, long-serving Republican Brian Babin pulled ahead of challenger Rhonda Hart late in the night Tuesday, and the race was called for Babin, with him earning 53.6% of the votes.
Trent Ashby (R-Lufkin) won decisively over Democratic challenger Bobby Tillman for the Texas Senate District 3 seat. Ashby’s current seat in the House was won by Rocky Thigpen, who defeated Democrat Shelley Tatum.
In city elections, both mayoral positions of Ivanhoe and Woodville were on the ballot, with incumbent Skip Blackstone of Ivanhoe winning reelection with 615 votes to challenger James Tate’s 281. Woodville mayor Amy Bythewood lost her bid for reelection to challenger Kelly Cordes Dillard. Bythewood earned 376 votes to Dillard’s 463. On the Ivanhoe city council election, Chuck Vonderlin got 458 votes; Tom Himmer 265 and Bobby Tull 385. The Woodville City Council saw Morgan Tucker Hoskins win with 328 votes over challengers Paul D. Werner (270 votes) and Sally Ciancimino (166) for the Alderman Place 1 spot. For Place 4, Jason A. Drake got 484 votes over Mike Cabaniss’s 245.
The Pct. 4 Commissioner race saw Matthew Johnson winning with 75.5% of the vote, and write-in candidate Brent Marcum earning 23%.
The Chester ISD Board of Trustees election had several challengers, with Josh Clarke getting 106 votes; Ross Toler 82; Jesse Gay 89; Bryan Martin 68; Amber Davis 100 and Brittany Neal 73. This election was for four seats.
Colmesneil ISD had challengers vying for three spots, with Lance Seamans getting 344 votes; Becky Grounds Graham 293; Hunter Morgan 206; Eric L. Lee 154; Kaleb Hughes 156 and Bill Cooper 122.
Warren ISD had Blake Riley getting 886 votes to defeat Kaycee Anthony, with 797. Board members Billie Read; Kimen Johnson and Blake Burkett ran unopposed.
In the Spurger ISD trustees election, Paul Bingham won with 237 votes over Jeffrey Hartman’s 64 for the Place 6 spot.
All of the propositions on the ballots passed, including a local option for precinct 1 pertaining to liquor, with 952 voting for and 526 against. The propositions pertaining to Emergency Services District 3, for White Tail Ridge and Shady Grove, both passed, as well.
