With three contested races on the Republican Primary Election ballot, Bosque County Republican Club hosts a candidate forum squaring off races for County Attorney, Tax Assessor/Collector and Commissioner, Pct. 3
CLIFTON – For the first time in recent memory, there will be three contested races in Bosque County for the 2024 Republican Primary election as registered voters select a candidate to represent their political party for the elected office to run in the Nov. 5 general election.
Striving to inform the county's voters, the Bosque County Republican Club hosted a Candidate Forum during its monthly meeting Feb. 13 at the Clifton Civic Center, producing a full house looking for the opportunity to meet and greet different Republican candidates for different seats and learn more about their visions and action plans.
With the forum moderated by former Erath County Republican Party Chairman Gil Parks, the Republicans entered this election cycle with four contested races in Bosque County, beginning with incumbent Bosque County Attorney Natalie Koehler-Denbow not running for re-election leading to two candidates, Zach Brown and Max Smith, challenging for the open seat.
Other races include Bosque County Tax Assessor/Collector incumbent Arlene Swiney facing a challenge from newcomer Annie Dawson, while Bosque Commissioner Precinct 3 incumbent Larry “Shotgun” Philipp hopes to hold off challenger Chad Holt. Bosque County Commissioner Precinct 1 incumbent Billy Hall initially faced challenger Steven L. Skipper, who tragically lost his life to a heart attack last week. At the forum, BCRC officer Hank Dawson offered a prayer in his memory.
Opening the forum with a national-level race, four of five challengers taking on incumbent U.S. District 31 Congressman John Carter were on hand vying to serve Williamson, Bosque, Bell, Burnet, Hamilton, and Coryell counties.
Candidates received 1.5 minutes to introduce themselves, answer the curated questions and to offer a summation after the questions round. The audience was able to offer their questions one-on-one before and after the forum.
Although the 82-year-old Carter and challenger John C. Anderson were absent, William Abel, Abhiram Garapati, Mack Latimer and Mike Williams were on hand to participate. Carter represents one of the 38 congressmen from Texas, 25 of whom are Republican. Garapati and Williams previously ran against Carter in 2022.
The candidate winning the Republican Primary election will face the winner of the Democratic Party Primary candidates Rick Von Pfeil, Brian Walbridge or Stuart Whitlow. Libertarian candidate Caleb Ferrell will also be in the race.
With each of the Republican challengers pointing out Carter was not there, they answered questions regarding why they were running against Carter, whether they agreed or disagreed with term limits, whether they agreed with the perks that come with the congressman’s office.
In the Bosque County Commissioner, Pct. 3 race, Holt and Philipp answered what the most pressing issues are for a Bosque County commissioner, what to do with leftover funds, whether they would agree to hand-counted ballots should the constituents request it, and what they considered the most important skill for a commissioner.
In the Bosque County Tax Assessor/Collector race, Swiney and Dawson discussed the most important aspect of the tax assessor/collector job, closing the office for training, and what it takes to get the job done.
In the Bosque County Attorney race, Brown and Smith answered the differences between the county attorney and the district attorney, whether military experience would benefit the office, whether they would maintain a private law practice when in office, and whether they preferred ballot machines or hand-counted ballots.
Incumbents running unopposed in Bosque County are Bosque County Sheriff Trace Hendricks, District Attorney 220th Judicial District Adam Sibley, Bosque County Treasurer Pam Browning, Constable Precinct 1 Scott Ferguson, Constable Precinct 2 Jay Sparkman and Bosque County Republican Party Chair Marisusan Kennedy.
At the state level, incumbent Angelia Orr will be running unopposed in the Republican Primary to represent Bosque County in Texas District 13, but will be facing Bosque County Democratic challenger Albert Hunter in the General Election Nov. 5. The Texas House’s 150 seats are currently divided among 86 Republicans and 64 Democrats.
Other national races include United States Senator Ted Cruz seeking a third term while facing two challengers in the Republican Primary – Holland “Redd” Gibson and Rufus Lopez. Meanwhile, the Democratic Primary has nine candidates including U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, State Senator Roland Gutierrez, State Rep. Carl Sherman, Meri Gomez, Mark Gonzalez, Robert Hassan, Steve Keough and Thierry Tchenko.
The ballots will also include candidates for U.S. President, U.S. Senator, and several other offices aliong with 13 propositions the public can weigh in on. A candidate winning more than 50 percent of the vote automatically advances to the general election. If no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two candidates will advance to a primary runoff.
Early voting runs Feb. 20-March 1 from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. at the Election Administration Building in Meridian at 104 W. Morgan, Meridian and the Clifton Civic Center at 403 W. 3rd Street, Clifton. Voting on Election Day March 5 is from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. in nine locations: Precinct 1 – Iredell Community Center; Precinct 2 – Walnut Springs City Hall; Precinct 3&4 - Meridian Civic Center; Precinct 5 – Lakeside Community Center; Precinct 6 – West Shore Community Center; Precinct 7 – Cranfills Gap Community Center; Precinct 8&9 – Clifton Civic Center; Precinct 10 – Old City Hall, Valley Mills; and Precinct 11 – Cayote Community Center
Check out the maps as a reminder of how the electoral districts changed in 2022. Ashley Rupp serves as Bosque County’s Elections Administrator. To learn more about local and county races and see a sample ballots, please visit the county's website, or call the election office at 254-435-6650.
Photos by SIMONE WICHERS-VOSS
©2024 Southern Cross Creative, LLP. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
