Voters make voices heard across county
It was a night of wins and losses across the county as voters in cities and school districts made their voices heard, including the ousting of six incumbents along the way and a third rejection of bond proposals in Tarkington Independent School District.
The big ticket item of the night was a pair of bond referendums that TISD placed on the ballot in an effort to construct a new campus and make updates to facilities across the district. The total bond amount for both bonds was $95 million. Both items failed by large margins.
There were also two other districts in which voters made decisions, with Devers ISD and Cleveland ISD having contested school board races. Both districts saw significant changes once the ballots were counted, including three incumbents losing their seats.
In Devers, incumbent board members Tommy McIntosh and Michelle Carr were defeated.
Carr lost her race for Position 2 soundly, with challenger Daniel Darbes coming out on top.
McIntosh, who serves as board president, was defeated by former longtime Devers educator Sandi Zbranek in a close contest in the race for Position 2. Zbranek trailed McIntosh after the early voting totals but recovered on election day, pulling off an eight-vote win 112-104.
In Cleveland, voters also sent an incumbent packing while electing two new board members.
The race for Position 4 was Pauline M. Johnson with a resounding victory over Kairos Sanchez Medina.
In the contest for Position 5, incumbent Amanda Sandoval Brooks lost her seat to challenger Jessica Allen.
On the city side of the ballot, voters in Liberty, Dayton, Daisetta and Ames voted on who they believed best represented them going forward. Those contests also saw several incumbents rejected by voters.
In Liberty, three at-large seats were up for grabs, with two incumbents seeking reelection. After the ballots were tallied, only one will return to the dais after longtime council member Libby Simonson couldn’t garner enough votes.
Incumbent Debbie Dugger led all vote-getters, while Bruce Bell and Nick Dennis took the other two seats. Trent LaFour rounded out the pack of five.
A pair of contests were on the ballot in Dayton, and voters showed their support for one of the two incumbents running.
In the race for Position 4, incumbent Tonya Smikal staved off a challenge from former councilman Don McDaniel, while incumbent Valorie Barton was not as fortunate. Barton lost to former councilman Alvin Burress in that race for Position 5.
Burress, who previously defeated Barton, was the night’s biggest vote-getter in any contested race in the county with 281 votes.
In Daisetta, the most convincing win of the night went to incumbent Ryan Taylor, who voters overwhelmingly reelected over Joseph Ballard with 92% of the vote.
Ames voters elected Tiffany Burges in a three-person race, as she defeated incumbent Audrey Harrison and challenger Reuben C. Williams.
Cleveland voters also voiced their opinions on election day, with a number of ballot measures aimed at changes to the city’s charter, with all but one passing the smell test.
Perhaps the most significant changes will come with adding a sixth council member and the mayor now possessing a vote. Terms will also be going from two to three years. More details will be made available soon.
The only prop that voters rejected would have allowed city managers to reside outside the city limits with a vote of 2/3 by the council. That decision is important after the city recently voted to hire a new city manager.
For more information on the propositions and other election information, visit the Liberty County Elections Office website.