By Ally Hinkle
Cove Leader-Press
The primary election runoff was held on Tuesday, May 26, and saw the conclusion of three highly anticipated contested races in Coryell County’s local government as well as several positions for the state level.
This means a turnover in leadership of three of the five top elected official positions in the county.
Coryell County gave Rob Erwin the nod for County Judge, Tully Meyer as Couånty Commissioner Precinct 2 and Ray Ashby to reprise his role as County Commissioner Precinct 4.
The leads for both Erwin and Ashby were seemingly solidified in early voting, with Erwin having 1,841 votes against incumbent Roger Miller’s 973 votes. Ashby received 406 votes over Justin Smith’s 268 votes in early voting.
The race for precinct 2 was a bit closer, as Meyer had a slight lead of 42 votes, with 340 votes over incumbent Scott Weddle’s 298.
After the election day returns were released, the unofficial results are as follows:
Erwin secured 2,706 votes to Miller’s 1,530 votes, Ashby secured 612 votes to Smith’s 407 votes and Meyer secured 507 votes to Weddle’s 443 votes.
Each of the newly elected officials were ecstatic about winning their races and are eager to begin work before they formally take office on Jan. 1, 2027.
“I’m looking forward to turning the county around and getting us back on track,” Meyer told Lynette Sowell-Stevens of The Gatesville Messenger. “I feel great.”
This election was Meyer’s first time running for any office.
“I am so excited that I will be the next Commissioner Precinct 4,” Ashby said. “I’m ready to go to work for the county … and I plan to do a lot of groundwork and planning with the other winners before we take office.”
This will be Ashby’s second time serving as County Commissioner for Precinct 4. He previously served from 2016-2022.
The citizens of Coryell County took to social media to express their opinions for the new elected officials.
“Congratulations to all the winners!!!,” Pam Evetts commented on The Gatesville Messenger’s Facebook post announcing the results. “Raise up our county to be an example to others.”
“Congratulations to you all, may you Serve Coryell County well!” wrote Jennifer Bates-Stephens. “I look forward to what you aspire to do!”
On the state level, former Attorney General Ken Paxton was elected as Republican U.S. State Senator by the citizens of Coryell, as well as Chip Roy as Attorney General, Jim Wright as Railroad Commissioner and Thomas Smith as Judge for place 3 of the Court of Criminal Appeals.
On the Democratic ballot, Vikki Goodwin was selected as the Lieutenant Governor candidate and Nathan Johnson was selected Attorney General candidate. The state races with both Republican and Democratic candidates will face off in the November election.
Overall, this runoff election saw 4,420 Republican voters participate in the run-off election and 438 Democratic voters. This roughly translates to 10.51 percent of the total registered voters within Coryell County.
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