Early voting for the Municipal Election has come and gone, but you will have an opportunity to vote Saturday, May 6, 2023, from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm. According to the Terry County Joint Elections Administrator Krystal Valentin, there were 260 early votes cast. With 6200 registered voters in Terry County, that means only 4.2% of the county’s electorate has voted so far. Every registered voter in Terry County is permitted to cast a ballot due to Brownfield Regional Medical Center (BRMC) having an election and BRMC is a county entity.
BRMC has two Directors At-Large seats that can be voted on. Those two are currently held by Silvia Dingus and Joe Silva. Director Dingus opted to not run, however, Director Silva did file and two others also filed who is Jeffrey Michael Davis Jr and Erasmo “Raz” Gonzales. On the ballot for the two at-large positions for BRMC, you can cast a vote for two candidates or cast two votes for the same candidate.
In the City of Brownfield, there are two seats that are on the ballot. The two at-large positions, which are currently held by Councilmen Isaiah Bautista and Michael Tackitt, both could refile to run for these seats, however, only Tackitt filed for re-election. Four candidates have filed for the two At-large positions, which include incumbent Michael Tackitt, former City Councilman Leon Pope, Don Bishop, and Jimmy Garza. Unlike the BRMC Board, a voter will get two votes, but cannot vote for the same candidate twice.
All other municipal positions that came up for election, will not have an election. These include Districts 4, & 5, of the City of Brownfield. Councilwoman (Mayor Pro-Tem) Michelle Cooper who currently holds District 4, and Councilman Eric Horton who currently holds District 5 termed out and could not file for re-election for these positions. However, in Districts 4 and 5, only one person filed in each district and will automatically be placed. Marshall Martell will become the District 4 Councilman and Mark Williams will be the District 5 Councilman. Both will take the oath of office in May.
In the City of Meadow, there are three at-large positions and three people have filed. Two of them are incumbents Kandace Welch and Everett McArthur and the other is Nettie Ticer. All three will take the oath of office in May.
In the City of Wellman, there will not be any change. The Mayor’s positions, Seat 2 and Seat 4 are up with Mayor Eddie Garza as the current mayor, Councilwoman Rachel Escobar currently holding Seat 2, and Councilman Seth Hollowell holding Seat 4. All three filed for the same positions, and there will not be an election. Mayor Garza, Councilwoman Escobar, and Councilman Hollowell will take the oath of office in May.
Moving on to the school districts, again not much changed. Brownfield ISD had three seats to vote on. Trustee District 4 is up, which is currently held by Geoff Cooper who is the current President of the School Board and he has filed for this position. Trustee District 5 is coming up as well and is currently held by Tim Swaringen, which has also filed for the same position. There will be no election for Districts 4 and 5. Something to note, BISD District 1 seat is still open. It has been open for two regular cycles and a special election cycle.
Meadow ISD has two Trustee At-Large positions that became available. Currently, Rusty Day, who is the board president and Jim Ticer hold those two positions, and both have filed for those positions. The same goes for Wellman-Union ISD. At WUISD, there are also two Trustee At-Large positions that became available which are held by Board President James Harlan and Board Vice President Barrett Brown. Both have filed for the same positions.
The South Plains Underground Water Conservation District does not have any seats open this election cycle.
Election Day is Saturday, May 6, 2023, from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm at the Terry County Joint Elections Office located at 507-A West Main.
