Morris County votes Republican in most contested races

With few contested races in the Morris County area, voters main questions were focused more on who would become president.

Of the local races on the ballots, only the two commissioner seats offered the voters a choice of candidates. In Precinct 1, Democrat Dennis Allen, the incumbent, defeated challenger Mike Rogers, 644 votes to 348 (64.52 percent to 35.08 percent). Democrat incumbent Michael Clair garnered 887 votes, or 63.95 percent, in his bid to remain the Precinct 3 Commissioner. His challenger, Justin Cobb, received 500 votes, or 36.05 percent.

Other races in Morris County went uncontested. Sheriff Jack Martin, County Tax Assessor-Collector Kim Thomasson, and District Attorney Steve Cowan all were re-elected in uncontested races. All three are on the Democratic ticket.

There was one other local resident on the ballot, as Cody Wommack ran on the Libertarian ticket against Republican John Ratcliffe for United States Representative, District 4. Wommack garnered 19.23 percent of the vote, or 797 votes, compared to 80.77 percent, or 3,348 votes, for Ratcliffe.

Of Morris County’s 8,558 registered voters, 5,026 marked their ballots during the course of the election. This marked a 58.73 percent voter turnout for the county. There were 1,655 straight-ticket Republican ballots cast, and 1,044 straight party Democratic ballots cast.

In state-wide races, there were four positions won by Republicans that were uncontested. Bryan Hughes will represent District 1 in the Texas State Senate, and Cole Hefner will hold the State Representative seat for District 5. In the Sixth District Court of Appeals, Josh Morriss was uncontested, as was Danny Woodson for the 76th Judicial District Judge position.

All other State races were decidedly Republican, with no Republican candidate gathering less than 60 percent of the vote. Three Texas Supreme Court Justices were elected on Nov. 8. Debra Lehrmann took Place 3, Paul Green took Place 5, and Eva Guzman took Place 9.Wayne Christian was elected Railroad Commissioner, while Keven M. Ellis was elected as a member of the State Board of Education, District 9. Three Court of Criminal Appeals Justice positions were decided, as well. Mary Lou Keel will hold place 2, Scott Walker will hold Place 5, and Michael Keasler will hold Place 6.

In the Presidential election, Morris County followed suit with the rest of Texas, with 3,443 ballots supporting the Republican nominee, and President- Elect, Donald Trump and Mike Pence. Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine tallied 1,425 votes in Morris County, for 28.53 percent. Overall in the Presidential race, Trump and Pence carried Texas, and its 38 Electoral College votes. A candidate must collect 270 Electoral votes to win the election. Although Clinton won the popular vote, 59,796,267 to Trump’s 59,589,809, Trump secured the presidency by collecting 279 votes in the Electoral College. Clinton gathered 228 Electoral College votes. For the first time since 2006, Republicans hold control of the House, Senate, and the White House. The Democrats last controlled all three in 2010.