Thompson, Wade and Shockley secure Republican nominations in 2026 Primary
By Carla McKeown/Breckenridge Texan
In the March 3, 2026, Stephens County election, Will Thompson, Tanner Wade and Justin Shockley won the only contested local races in the Republican Party Primary. There were no local candidates on the Democratic Party ballot.
There were a total of 1,926 ballots cast in Stephens County — 1,233 in Early Voting, 61 by mail-in ballot, and 632 on Election Day.
According to the unofficial results from the Stephens County Elections Office, the following vote totals for the three local contested races were:
Stephens County Judge
Will Thompson 1,291
Bacel Cantrell 488
County Commissioner, Precinct 4
Tanner Wade 421
Donald Perry 104
County Constable
Justin Shockley 1,106
Brian McBride 512
All other local races were uncontested. To see the full list of election results on the Stephens County website, click here.
There is no Democratic Party nominee for any of the local offices, but independent and write-in candidates have several months to file paperwork pertaining to their intent to run, according to the Texas Secretary of State’s website. One potential candidate for the Stephens County Judge position filed the necessary “Declaration of Intent to Run as an Independent Candidate” at the end of last year and has until June 25 to file a candidate application and petition of nomination. Additionally, anyone who wants to run as a write-in candidate for any of the positions needs to file the necessary paperwork between July 20 and Aug. 17.
The election also included a variety of state and federal offices, including governor, attorney general, lieutenant governor, U.S. senator, comptroller, land commissioner, ag commissioner and U.S. representatives. To see the statewide results, visit the Texas Tribune’s 2026 Elections webpage or visit the Texas Secretary of State’s website.
Cutline, top photo: The crowd gathered at the Stephens County Courthouse on election night, March 3, checks out the results of the 2026 Primary Election. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
