Spiller wins handily; Craig, Philipp in runoff
Young County voters helped return Rep. David Spiller to the Texas House of Representatives, pitted Scott “Scooter” Philipp and Alan Craig in a runoff for Precinct 3 Commissioner, and voted to keep Olney Police Chief Dan Birbeck at his current post rather than electing him Young County Sheriff.
Although he received only 66% of the Republican primary vote across the twelve counties comprising his district, Spiller won the Young County Republican nomination with 75.8 percent of the vote, compared with 24.2 percent for challenger Kerri Kingsbery. Mr. Spiller will run in the general election against Democrat Stacey Swann, who ran unopposed in her primary.
Sheriff Babcock will run opposed on Nov 5., remaining in his job, after capturing 54.7 percent of the County GOP primary vote, over Chief Birbeck, with 45.7 percent.
Mr. Philipp won 39.6 percent of the County vote for Commissioner, Precinct 3, compared with 44.65 percent for Alan Craig, sending them to a May 28 runoff. The winner does not have a general election opponent.
County voters also chose trucking company CEO Brent Hagenbuch and attorney Jace Yarbrough as the top two candidates for the District 30 Texas Senate seat that will be vacated in 2025 by Sen. Drew Springer. The winner of a runoff election for the Senate seat will face the winner of a runoff between Democratic nominees Michael Braxton and Dale Frey.
Hagenbuch, who was endorsed by Gov. Greg Abbott, won 43.9 percent and Yarbrough won 29.6 percent of the vote in Young County.
Former President Donald Trump won 84.1 percent of Republican primary votes in Young County, compared with 10.46 percent for South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. Sen. Ted Cruz captured 91.5 percent of the GOP vote in Young County and now faces Democratic U.S. Rep. Colin Allred in the general election. Rep. Roger Williams fended off challenges from Matthew Lucci and Vince Crabb will return to the U.S. House of Representatives, buoyed by 80.2 percent of Young County GOP voters as he has no Democratic challenger.
90th Judicial District Judge Phillip Gregory and District Attorney Dee Peavy ran unopposed for their seats and will not face Democratic challengers in the general election. County Attorney Christopher Baran, County Clerk Tina Gilliam, Tax Assessor-Collector Christy Centers, County Treasurer Kyle Milam, and Precinct 3 Constable Cliff Blackstock all ran unopposed and were reelected to their positions.
Young County Democrats elected President Joseph Biden over seven challengers, with 78.6 percent of the vote.
Young County voter turnout topped 18 percent in line with the statewide average, according to the Texas Secretary of State.
About 3.2 million Texans voted in the March 5 primary election, down from 4.1 million during the last presidential election cycle, with lower Democratic turnout accounting for the decline, the Texas Tribune reported.
Despite an increase in statewide voter registration, this year’s primary turnout dropped from 2020 in both numbers of votes cast and percentage turnout, according to an analysis by the Texas Tribune.
The analysis showed that 12.6 percent of Republican voters and 5.4 percent of Democratic voters turned out statewide, while 82 percent of registered voters did not.
In 2020, 12.4 percent of Republicans and 12.9 percent of Democrats statewide turned out, with 74.6 percent of registered voters not casting a ballot, the analysis showed.