Qualls Enters County Judge Race With Call for Unity

Graham attorney Taylor Qualls last week entered a fraught race for Young County judge, asking voters to do two things: write her name on the Nov. 3 ballot and set aside divisions that have intensified over the proposed Project Saltworks data center.

Ms. Qualls, 28, is challenging former Young County Judge John Charles Bullock as a write-in candidate. During an interview on Olney on Air, she said bringing the county together would be her priority.

“I just want the county to work together — every part of the county, Olney, Graham and all of the parts of Young County,” she said. “Come together and look for the common goal of what’s best for Young County going forward.”

Ms. Qualls describes herself as “hard to put in a box.” She participated in FFA and 4-H, rodeoed and cheered in high school, and now rides both a horse named Harley and a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. She is a wife, mother, and Christian whose faith guides her life.

Ms. Qualls and her husband, Mickey, recently celebrated their ninth wedding anniversary. She called him an “amazing support” as she entered her first political race.

Ms. Qualls earned a bachelor’s degree in agribusiness management from Tarleton State University and received her Juris Doctor from Regent University School of Law in 2024. She founded Qualls Legal, a family law and child-advocacy practice, and remains of counsel with Reynolds Law Group, assisting churches and nonprofit organizations.

Her experience also includes serving as a CASA advocate for children in state custody and working in the court system and a prosecutor’s office during law school. She said she has represented between 30 and 50 juveniles during her first year practicing in Young County.

Ms. Qualls said painful experiences in her own childhood in Mineral Wells led her into family law and child advocacy.

“CPS failed me as a child. It failed my sister as a child,” she said. “That is the reason that I got into family law, and it’s the reason that I’m a passionate advocate for kids.”

She believes family law has taught her to examine chaotic situations, gather the available facts, negotiate where possible, and hold a firm line when necessary — skills she says she would utilize as county judge.

Ms. Qualls acknowledged that she is a relatively new attorney but pointed to her experience with budgeting and compensation studies for nonprofit organizations. She said she also understands that a county judge must rely on the expertise of the county auditor, treasurer, attorney, emergency management personnel and other officials.

“I’m not leaning on my own strength,” she said.

The data center controversy may be the defining issue in the race, but Ms. Qualls declined to declare herself simply for or against the project, saying she lacks access to all the information available to the Commissioners Court.

She questioned whether Young County needs to offer incentives to attract a project that already wants to locate here. If commissioners approve an abatement, she said, they should negotiate tangible benefits to offset pressure on roads, water, sewer, housing, law enforcement, fire protection, probation and the jail.

“If we give a tax abatement, what are we getting in return?” she asked. “We can’t just be left in the lurch.”

Beyond unity, Ms. Qualls identified keeping taxes low and encouraging growth — particularly affordable housing — as priorities.

Her campaign, however, returns repeatedly to relationships. Asked what Young County must protect as it grows, Ms. Qualls answered with that single word: “relationships.”

“I’m asking people to want to come together more than they want to be apart,” she said, “and to work together rather than be right.”