Wichita County residents pick candidates in Tuesday primaries

Lynn Walker, Wichita Falls Times Record News
·3 min read
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Wichita County Republicans overwhelmingly chose Donald Trump as their nominee for president.

He led by a wide margin in Tuesday’s primary vote, leading in the county with 81 percent of the party vote and leading statewide with 78 percent of the vote. His closest challenger was Nikki Haley, who was garnering 15 percent of the vote in Wichita County and 17 percent statewide.

On the Democratic side, President Joe Biden received a wide majority of votes over some minor candidates.

Wichita County residents voted in party primaries on Tuesday.
Wichita County residents voted in party primaries on Tuesday.

Wichita County had just one contested office on the Republican ballot. Incumbent Precinct 3 County Commissioner Barry Mahler led challenger Brad Wynn with 63 percent of the vote.

Mahler will face former Wichita Falls City Councilor Deandra Chenault in the Nov. 5 general election.  She was unopposed in her bid for the Democratic nomination.

The county will have at least one new elected official in 2025. First Assistant District Attorney Dobie Kosub was unopposed in the Republican primary in his bid to replace retiring 89th District Court Judge Charles Barnard. Kosub has no opponent in the general election in November.

Wichita County offices are all held by Republicans, and most of those up for re-election face no opponents in either their party primary or the general election.

With most of the vote counted, Brent Hagenbuch appeared headed for a runoff race with Jace Yarbrough for the 30th District Texas Senate seat that includes part of Wichita County. The seat became available when incumbent Republican Drew Springer decided not to run for re-election.

With 95 percent of the vote counted in the district early Wednesday, Hagenbuch had 36 percent of the vote in a district consisting of a dozen counties while Yarbrough had 34 percent.

A candidate must have 50 percent of the vote to avoid a runoff.  Figures from just Wichita County showed Hagenbuch with a wider lead of 44 percent to Yarbrough’s 26 percent.

The Democratic race for 30th District also appeared headed for a runoff between Michael Braxton and Dale Frey.

The runoff elections will be May 28.

James Frank, 69th District state representative, had no opponent in the Republican primary and in November will face Walter Coppage, who won the Democratic nomination Tuesday.

Dr. Ronny Jackson, the 13th District U.S. congressman whose district includes Wichita County and much of North Texas, was unopposed in the Republican primary and has no Democratic challenger.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz was easily nominated over some minor party challengers. He will face Colin Allred, who won the Democratic nomination Tuesday.

The following Wichita County vote totals are unofficial and reflect results available as of Wednesday.

Republican President

  • Donald J. Trump: 7,240

  • Nikki Haley: 1,383

  • Ron DeSantis: 119

  • Uncommitted: 101

  • Chris Christie: 28

  • Ryan L. Binkley: 21

  • David Stuckenburg: 15

  • Vivek Ramaswamy: 15

  • Asa Hutchinson: 9

These are Wichita County totals for the Texas 30th District Senate seat, Republican, as of 7 a.m. Wednesday.

  • Brent Hagenbuch: 1,213

  • Jace Yarbrough: 728

  • Carrie De Moor: 596

  • Cody Clark: 249

These are the district-wide race totals for the Texas 30th District Senate seat in the Republican primary with 96 percent of the vote counted Wednesday morning:

  • Brent Hagenbuch: 35,204

  • Jace Yarbrough: 32,839

  • Carrie De Moor: 17,037

  • Cody Clark: 11,686

There are the Wichita County totals for Texas 30th District Senate seat for the Democrat primary as of 7 a.m. Wednesday.

  • Michael Braxton: 298

  • Matthew McGehee: 233

  • Dale Frey: 189

These are the district-wide race totals for the Texas 30th District Senate seat for the Democratic primary with 96 percent of the vote counted on Wednesday morning.

  • Michael Braxton: 7,792

  • Dale Frey: 6,823

  • Matthew McGehee: 6,058

These are the totals for Wichita County Commissioner District 3 for the Republican primary as of 7 a.m. Wednesday.

  • Barry Mahler: 889

  • Brad Wynn: 533

Wichita County voters also picked party chairs on Tuesday. Republicans elected Julie Wilson over Joe Gauthier, and Democrats picked Chelsea Streeter over Paul Mason Jr.

This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Wichita County residents pick candidates in Tuesday primaries