Breckenridge Texan

Following a strong voter turnout last week, the second week of Early Voting in the Republican and Democratic Party primaries will kick off at the Stephens County courthouse today, Monday, Feb. 24.

The Breckenridge Texan has created a special page on this website for all of the stories related to the Primary Election; click here to visit that page. In addition to local candidate profiles to help voters make their voting decisions, we have added sample ballots for readers to look at that can also be downloaded and printed, a story from Texas Tribune that takes a look at the candidates running in the State House of Representatives District 60 race, a Letter to the Editor and information about a local forum for the District 60 candidates.

Early voting last week

According to Stephens County Elections Administrator Christie Latham, the first week of early voting, which was only four days because of Monday’s holiday, had no major problems.

“Everything seems to be running very smoothly,” she said. “The numbers have been high, and they have been consistent.”

Latham said there were some people who were coming in to vote who were upset by the campaign signs that had been placed on the courthouse lawn and wanted to know why the county was endorsing a certain candidate. Most of the signs were later removed by the campaigns, and by Friday there were no campaign signs left on the courthouse lawn.

She said there were about three people who wanted to vote for one of the Democratic presidential candidates, but also wanted to be able to vote in the local races on the Republican ticket. “They don’t realize they can’t do that,” Latham said. “Once you vote, you’re committed to that party for the (primary) election and any run off. Of course, in November you can vote either way.”

Early voting for the Primary Election continues this week, through Friday, Feb. 28, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Stephens County Courthouse, 200 W. Walker St.

The Breckenridge Texan’s 2020 March Primary page

As part of helping voters keep informed on the current elections, the Breckenridge Texan has added a special page to the website that gathers in one place all of the stories related to the 2020 March Primary Election. The page includes the following items:

• Sample ballots for all the races that voters can look at online or download and printed out.
• A story from Texas Tribune that takes a look at the candidates running State Representative House 60 District race, which includes Breckenridge and Stephens County. The story takes an in-depth look at the two front runners in the race, Jon Francis and Glenn Rogers, in addition to the two other candidates, Christopher Perricone and Kellye SoRelle, who are also vying for the spot. Click here to read that article.
• Candidate profiles on the Stephens County Sheriff’s race and the County Commissioner Precinct 1 race.
• Additionally, we also started receiving letters to the editor from local people about the candidates. Letter to the Editor: Reader supports Glenn Rogers
• Local residents meet Texas House candidates at forum
• Campaign signs on courthouse lawn stir up controversy

Story by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan

Cutline, top photo: A local citizen votes at the Stephens County Courthouse during the first week of Early Voting in the 2020 Primary Election. Early Voting continues this week at the courthouse. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)