Published: May 07, 2008 12:55 am         

Early voting heavy for Greenville ISD races

GREENVILLE — What if they held an election in West Tawakoni and nobody voted?

That is the case, at least so far.

Tuesday’s final day of early voting for the various contests to be decided Saturday across Hunt County was the heaviest yet, with the three seats open on the Greenville Independent School District Board continuing to draw the most attention from voters.

However, some races have produced virtually no ballots at all. In fact, the elections being conducted for the City of West Tawakoni have not recorded a single early vote.

Polls will be open between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday. Lists of polling places for the various elections, along with sample ballots, will be featured in Saturday’s editions of the Herald-Banner.

As of Tuesday evening, a total of 680 voters had cast 743 early ballots through the Hunt County Voter Administration Office, which conducted early voting for all of the cities conducting elections, with the exception of the City of Commerce, and for all of the school districts, with the exception of the Bland ISD. The total included 145 voters casting 159 ballots Tuesday. Early ballots by mail will continue to be accepted until election day.

The contests for the three seats open on the Greenville ISD board this year were busiest in early voting. In District 2, Trena Stafford is facing James Bland, with 72 early votes cast as of Tuesday. In District 3, Kim Hunt Butcher is competing against Steve Tippit, with 174 early votes cast. In District 4, Randy L. Wineinger is facing Duane May, with 124 early votes cast

— In the race for the Greenville City Council, Victoria Rogers and Hattie Tennison are competing for the Place 4 seat. As of Tuesday, 66 early votes had been cast.

— In the City of West Tawakoni, there are four city government seats open. Pete Yoho is the only candidate for Mayor, Bill J. McKee, Carol J. Solomon and Edward D. Roman are competing for the Place 4 Council seat. There had not been a single early vote cast.

— The City of Campbell, is conducting a mayoral election between Terry Trapp, Geri Barnes and Nick Jordan. There is also a special election to maintain the increased local sales and use tax of one-fourth of one percent to provide revenue for maintenance and repair of municipal streets. Only six early votes had been cast.

— In the City of Celeste, James L. Johnson, Roger Seals, Joel Gibson and John Mize are running for three open seats on the Council, a race which had drawn 12 early ballots.

— In the City of Lone Oak, Wes Owen was the only candidate running for Mayor, although there is room on the ballot for a write-in candidate. Gaylon Stogner and Harold Slemmons are vying for Place 2 on the Council. Shirley Hooten Stogner and Sue Suits Hales are meeting for the Place 4 seat on the Council. A total of 21 early votes had been cast as of Tuesday.

— In the City of Quinlan, Carolyn Strickland, Mike Kerr and Michael Reagan are vying for the City Council Place 1 seat; Clellan Foster, Ash Harmon, Richey Whitehead are competing for the Place 3 position; William R. Howell and Richard Whitehead are seeking the Place 5 seat on the Council. A total of five early votes had been cast as of Tuesday’s deadline.

— In the City of Union Valley, Jeffrey A. Francis, Michelle Oznick and Daniel Wayne Council are competing for two open spots on the City Commission. Voters are also being asked whether they are in favor of a one percent sales and use tax, as well as their thoughts on a non-binding referendum on a small property tax to expand the Union Valley Fire Station and to be able to house the City Hall and possibly have a Hunt County Sheriff’s substation. The intention of the referendum is to possibly have a property tax of $.08 per $100.00 value capped at $150,000, or $10 per month/$120 per year.

Even with all of those issues on the ballot, only one person had voted early as of Tuesday.

— Voters in the City of Wolfe City are choosing three members of the City Council between Chad Hogan, Jimmy Ebert, Bryan Creed and Joe Hodge. A total of 24 voters cast early ballots.

— Voters in the Caddo Mills ISD are choosing two trustees between Wes Ferrell, Carolyn Swafford, Andy Guthrey, Patsy Wygal Locker and Jim Ayo. A total of 37 early votes were cast.

— Four candidates are seeking two seats for full terms on the Celeste ISD board; including Ronnie Steen, James Little, Marty Burke and Don Armstrong. One candidate, Ken Wilgus, is running for an unexpired, one-year term on the board. A total of 49 early votes have been cast.

— Four candidates are seeking two seats on the Lone Oak ISD board; including Jerry G. Glick, Thomas Patterson, Alan Ray Wallen and Jerry L. Denton. There have been 39 early votes cast.

— Places 6 and 7 on the Quinlan ISD board will be chosen Saturday. Rodney S. Wolfe and Eric Kleiber are vying for the Place 6 seat. As of Tuesday’s deadline, 24 early ballots had been cast.

— Four people are seeking two seats on the Wolfe City ISD board; Sean George, Phil Tanner, Ron Ferguson and Sandra Murphey, with 52 early votes cast by Tuesday.

— Four propositions are on the ballot for the Verandah Municipal Utility District calling for the sale of more than $340 million in bonds to pay for infrastructure improvements. Two people, Joseph Counter and Glenn Purcell, are also vying for two spots on the utility district’s board of directors. There are only two registered voters living in the district and neither had voted early prior to Tuesday’s deadline.

— Three people are competing for two placed on the Board of Directors of the Combined Consumers Special Utility District; W. Ward Guffey, Rick Little and Andy Yates. Three early votes had been cast as of Tuesday.

— Four people are seeking three spots on the Board of Directors of the Hickory Creek Special Utility District; Bill Ashworth, Kern Morris, Robert Childress and Troyce Woodruff. A total of 40 early votes have been cast so far.