SAN ANGELO – The next election cycle in Texas is the party primary election in March 2022 where the Democratic and Republican parties will vote for their respective nominees to be placed on the general election ballot for Nov. 1, 2022.
Like all other 253 counties in Texas, Tom Green County is prepared to hold the primary election for each party on March 1, 2022. There are 27 statutory elected offices in Tom Green County. Not all of them are up for election. Each office holder is elected to a four year term with several offices up for election in off-year elections like 2022 where the Governor of Texas and other statewide offices are on the ballot. The next general election will be held in 2024 and includes the office of President of the United States and the other county offices not up for election in 2022.
Every election cycle there is some confusion surrounding the election process because statutory and Constitutional elections are held every four years and not all offices are up for election at the same time for continuity of service and governing authority.
County elections differ from city or school board elections because they are offices created by the Texas Constitution or laws passed by the Texas Legislature. All county offices have some things in common; they are four year terms, to be elected each candidate must be at least 18-years-old, of sound mind and must not have been convicted of a felony. There are residential requirements as well; generally to qualify to run for a county office a candidate must live in the county and precinct they want to represent for at least six months.
There are two elected judge offices in Texas counties where the candidate or office holder does not have to have a degree in law; County Judge and Justice of the Peace.
In the early days of Texas vast areas of the state were sparsely populated and there weren't enough lawyers to fill those County Judge and Justice of the Peace offices so the legislature allowed citizens who weren't attorneys to serve as judges.
That tradition of County Judges and Justices of the Peace not being required to have a degree in law has been respected by every Texas Legislature since reconstruction.
In the March 2022 Primary elections, the following Tom Green County offices are up for election:
County Judge; County Court-at-Law Judges Place 1 and 2; District Clerk; County Clerk; County Treasurer; all four Justices of the Peace; and County Commissioners in Pct. 2 & 4.
All 27 Tom Green County elected offices are held by Republicans.
The incumbents in the offices up for election are:
County Judge Steve Floyd who is not seeking re-election
County Court-at-law Judge Place 1 Ben Nolen
County Court-at-law Judge Place 2 Penny Roberts who is not seeking re-election
District Clerk Anthony Monico
County Clerk Christina Ubando
County Treasurer Dianna Spieker
Justice of the Peace Pct. 1 Susan Werner
Justice of the Peace Pct. 2 J.P. McGuire who is not seeking re-election
Justice of the Peace Pct. 3 Fred Buck who is not seeking re-election
Justice of the Peace Pct. 4 Eddie Howard
County Commissioner Pct. 2 Sammy Farmer
County Commissioner Pct. 4 Bill Ford
Two County offices up for election have attracted the most attention to this point; Tom Green County Judge and County Commissioner Pct. 4. The following is a list of candidates who have announced their candidacy in the Republican Primary. To date, no Tom Green County Democrats have entered any county races.
Candidates running for County Judge in the Republican Primary are: Todd Kolls, Joe Hyde, Tommy Usery and Lane Carter.
Candidates running for County Commissioner in Pct. 4 are: Incumbent Bill Ford, Coco Simpson, Lori Wilson, Dustin Barton and Shawn Nanny.
Candidates running for Justice of the Peace in Pct. 2 are: Thomas Daniel and Christopher Duerstine.
Candidates running for Justice of the Peace in Pct. 3 are: Stacye Speck, Ron Perry and Martha Muro.
Candidates running for County Court-at-law Judge Place 2 are: Leland Lacy and Andrew Graves.
The deadline to file to run in a County Office Party Primary is Monday, Dec. 13, 2021.
The following Tom Green County Office Holders are running unopposed in the March Republican Primary:
County Commissioner Pct. 2 Sammy Farmer
District Clerk Anthony Monico
County Clerk Christina Ubando
County Treasurer Dianna Spieker
Justice of the Peace Pct. 1 Susan Werner
Justice of the Peace Pct. 4 Eddie Howard
Tom Green County Court-at-law Place 1 Judge Ben Nolen
The deadline to file for a place on the Democrat or Republican Primary ballot is Monday, Dec. 13, 2021.
There will be two elections statewide on March 1, 2022, the Democrat Primary and the Republican Primary. In addition to the local offices on the ballot, there are statewide offices and congressional offices as well.
No candidates have filed to run for Tom Green County office in the Democrat Primary.
Texans will be electing a Governor, Lt Governor, Attorney General, Comptroller, Land Commissioner, Commissioner of Agriculture, Rail Road Commissioner, Texas Supreme Court Justices, Court of Criminal Appeals Court Judges, 3rd Court of Appeals Judges and State Representative.
San Angelo LIVE! will interview all the local candidates who will agree to be interviewed on the ballot in coming weeks.
For more information on the March 1, 2022 primary election, check here.
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