UPDATED: Complete GOP and Democratic Party results for Montgomery County Primary Elections

THE WOODLANDS, TX – In a hotly contested political season, the March 3 Primary Election brought tens of thousands of Montgomery County voters to the polls to cast their ballots on numerous races and propositions. With all 121 Montgomery County precincts reporting, Woodlands Online has the results for both GOP and Democratic Party primaries. Note that, while complete, these results are ‘unofficial’ until certified by the Texas Elections Commission.

Two of the most-watched races on the Republican Party ticket for Montgomery County were for County Judge and Congressional District 2, which covers The Woodlands. Going head to head with neither giving quarter, incumbent Montgomery County Judge Mark Keough and challenger Justice of the Peace, Precinct 1 Wayne Mack, took it to the wire with Keough managing to barely grab a majority with 51% of the vote, with only 1,514 ballots separating the two men. In what came as a surprise to many, the four-way race for incumbent Dan Crenshaw’s congressional seat avoided a runoff election with primary challenger and State Representative Steve Toth walking away with a considerable 60.21% of the vote, easily unseating Crenshaw, with the other two challengers each earning less than two percent of the vote.

In the other Woodlands-area congressional race (District 8), Jessica Steinmann walked away with 68.24% of the vote, leaving her five opponents for her seat far behind. For County Commissioners Court, Precinct 2 incumbent Charlie Riley staved off the challenge to his seat by Bob Harvey with 54% of the vote. Precinct 4’s Matt Gray ran unopposed.

For the U.S. Senate race, Ken Paxton dominated incumbent John Cornyn and Wesley Hunt with 54% over their combined 43%; statewide, the votes were closer, forcing a runoff between Paxton and Cornyn.

Governor Greg Abbott crushed the field, earning nearly 80 percent of the vote locally and securing his spot as the GOP nominee for the general election against Democratic primary winner Gina Hinojosa. While Mayes Middleton locally beat out Chip Roy in the Attorney General race, both men are headed for a statewide runoff election. Acting State Comptroller of Public Accounts Kelly Hancock was unseated by former Texas State Senator Don Huffines.

Speaking of the State Senate, former Montgomery County District Attorney Bret Ligon trounced his opponent for the District 4 race with more than 80% of the vote.

In Montgomery County, both Bo French and Jim Wright earned around 37% of the vote for Texas Railroad Commissioner (which, ironically, has nothing to do with trains), a theme that carried statewide as they head into a runoff election.

For Texas State House, while Districts 15 and 18 were run unopposed, ensuring Brad Bailey and Janis Holt, respectively, move on to the general election, incumbent Will Metcalf handily beat challenger Jon Bouche for the District 16 seat, while District 3’s longtime incumbent, Cecil Bell, lost his seat to challenger Kristen Plaisance.

The two candidates vying for retiring 359th District Judge Kathleen Hamilton were reduced to one when Michael H. Ghutzman beat Jo Ann Linzer with 60% of the vote.

In the world of Justices of the Peace, Precincts 2 and 4 were unopposed for Grady ‘Trey’ Spikes and Jason Dunn, respectively. The race for Precinct 1 was decided when Scott Carson managed to get 51% of the vote against his two challengers, and Precinct 3 incumbent Jay Mac Sanders was edged out with a 48-to-52-percent loss to challenger Brittany Gable-Hale. With no incumbent to overcome for Precinct 5, Billy Masden easily beat Ashton Hedrick with a three-to-one ratio.

Additionally, all of the propositions on the GOP ballot passed by significant margins. The approved propositions were:

• Proposition 1 – Texas property taxes should be assessed at the purchase price and phased out entirely over the next six years through spending reductions

• Proposition 2 – Texas should require any local government budget that raises property taxes to be approved by voters at a November general election

• Proposition 3 – Texas should prohibit denial of healthcare or any medical service based solely on the patient’s vaccination status

• Proposition 4 – Texas should require its public schools to teach that life begins at fertilization

• Proposition 5 – Texas should ban gender, sexuality, and reproductive clinics and services in K-12 schools

• Proposition 6 – Texas should enact term limits on all elected officials

• Proposition 7 – Texas should ban the large-scale export or sale of our groundwater and surface water to any single private or public entity

• Proposition 8 – The Texas Legislature should reduce the burden of illegal immigration on taxpayers by ending public services for illegal aliens

• Proposition 9 – The Republican-controlled Texas Legislature should stop awarding leadership positions, including committee and subcommittee chairmanships and vice chairmanships, to Democrats

• Proposition 10 – Texas should prohibit Sharia Law

For the Democratic Party primary in Montgomery County, James Talarico easily beat Jasmine Crockett with 60% of the vote for United States Senator, while Gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa secured nearly 57% of the vote. Lieutenant Governor candidate Vikki Goodwin managed to eke out a 359-vote majority over her challengers. Attorney General candidate Nathan Johnson likewise barely achieved a majority with 50.67% of the vote. Sarah Eckhardt and Benjamin Flores are breathing easier, however, having secured definite majorities in the races for Comptroller of Public Accounts and Commissioner of the General Land Office, respectively. Several key races that would affect The Woodlands – such as County Judge, Congressional District 2, and State Representative 15 – each had only one unopposed candidate who will move forward to face their GOP counterparts in the general election. And, like the ten propositions on the Republican Party ticket, all 13 propositions on the Democratic Party ballot easily passed, with only Proposition 8 – the legalization of marijuana and the release of pot-related convicts from prison – garnering less than 90 percent of the vote.

Below is the complete list of races and their results for Montgomery County, split up by party and listed by the candidate, the absentee ballot count, the early election ballot count, the Election Day ballot count, the total number of ballots, and the percentage of those votes.

Republican Primary

United States Senator

• Gulrez "Gus" Khan – 13 – 249 – 198 – 460 – 0.58%

• Ken Paxton – 911 – 27,049 – 15,076 – 43,036 – 54.57%

• Virgil John Bierschwale – 6 – 113 – 75 – 194 – 0.25%

• Wesley Hunt – 279 – 7,604 – 4,623 – 12,506 – 15.86%

• Sara Canady – 30 – 301 – 213 – 544 – 0.69%

• John O. Adefope – 4 – 60 – 45 – 109 – 0.14%

• John Cornyn – 1,289 – 13,117 – 7,136 – 21,542 – 27.31%

• Anna Bender – 20 – 270 – 190 – 480 – 0.61%

United States Representative, District 2

• Steve Toth – 488 – 12,950 – 7,282 – 20,720 – 60.21%

• N. Lee Plumb – 29 – 279 – 197 – 505 – 1.47%

• Martin Etwop – 28 – 398 – 256 – 682 – 1.98%

• Dan Crenshaw – 678 – 7,202 – 4,624 – 12,504 – 36.34%

United States Representative, District 8

• Brett Jensen – 189 – 3,827 – 2,230 – 6,246 – 14.59%

• Stephen Long – 27 – 564 – 564 – 1,155 – 2.70%

• Jay Fondren – 24 – 328 – 258 – 610 – 1.42%

• Jessica Hart Steinmann – 942 – 18,976 – 9,295 – 29,213 – 68.24%

• Nick Tran – 94 – 3,057 – 1,990 – 5,141 – 12.01%

• Deddrick T. Wilmer – 16 – 283 – 147 – 446 – 1.04%

Governor

• Kenneth Hyde – 8 – 383 – 326 – 717 – 0.93%

• Mark V. Goloby – 9 – 138 – 116 – 263 – 0.34%

• Evelyn Brooks – 67 – 631 – 437 – 1,135 – 1.47%

• Pete "Doc" Chambers – 107 – 7,128 – 4,334 – 11,569 – 15.00%

• Charles Andrew Crouch – 13 – 209 – 144 – 366 – 0.47%

• R.F. "Bob" Achgill – 17 – 145 – 75 – 237 – 0.31%

• Ronnie Tullos – 17 – 368 – 221 – 606 – 0.79%

• Arturo Espinosa – 14 – 314 – 243 – 571 – 0.74%

• Nathaniel Welch – 6 – 84 – 53 – 143 – 0.19%

• Greg Abbott – 2,309 – 38,042 – 20,867 – 61,218 – 79.40%

• Stephen Samuelson – 13 – 163 – 100 – 276 – 0.36%

Lieutenant Governor

• Dan Patrick – 2,286 – 43,385 – 23,801 – 69,472 – 89.46%

• Timothy Mabry – 172 – 3,117 – 2,072 – 5,361 – 6.90%

• Perla Mu?oz Hopkins – 88 – 1,252 – 896 – 2,236 – 2.88%

• Esala Wueschner – 19 – 349 – 219 – 587 – 0.76%

Attorney General

• Aaron Reitz – 398 – 10,962 – 6,037 – 17,397 – 22.69%

• Chip Roy – 661 – 11,283 – 7,286 – 19,230 – 25.08%

• Mayes Middleton – 1,279 – 21,380 – 10,214 – 32,873 – 42.87%

• Joan Huffman – 224 – 4,098 – 2,865 – 7,187 – 9.37%

Comptroller of Public Accounts

• Don Huffines – 1,425 – 32,052 – 17,350 – 50,827 – 66.72%

• Kelly Hancock – 590 – 7,700 – 5,061 – 13,351 – 17.53%

• Michael Berlanga – 82 – 885 – 669 – 1,636 – 2.15%

• Christi Craddick – 429 – 6,783 – 3,151 – 10,363 – 13.60%

Commissioner of the General Land Office

• Dawn Buckingham – 2,068 – 40,307 – 22,721 – 65,096 – 100.00%

Commissioner of Agriculture

• Sid Miller – 1,033 – 16,720 – 10,078 – 27,831 – 37.92%

• Nate Sheets – 1,399 – 29,234 – 14,924 – 45,557 – 62.08%

Railroad Commissioner

• James (Jim) Matlock – 281 – 6,004 – 4,648 – 10,933 – 15.13%

• Jim Wright – 1,168 – 17,335 – 8,745 – 27,248 – 37.71%

• Hawk Dunlap – 129 – 2,119 – 1,278 – 3,526 – 4.88%

• Katherine Culbert – 182 – 2,296 – 1,589 – 4,067 – 5.63%

• Bo French – 677 – 17,559 – 8,252 – 26,488 – 36.66%

Chief Justice, Supreme Court

• Jimmy Blacklock – 1,997 – 39,848 – 22,480 – 64,325 – 100.00%

Justice, Supreme Court, Place 2, Unexpired Term

• James P. Sullivan – 1,966 – 39,774 – 22,402 – 64,142 – 100.00%

Justice, Supreme Court, Place 7

• Kyle Hawkins – 1,955 – 39,481 – 22,193 – 63,629 – 100.00%

Justice, Supreme Court, Place 8

• Brett Busby – 1,953 – 39,366 – 22,122 – 63,441 – 100.00%

Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 3

• Thomas Smith – 826 – 19,726 – 11,065 – 31,617 – 46.84%

• Brent Coffee – 268 – 4,849 – 3,263 – 8,380 – 12.41%

• Lesli Fitzpatrick – 222 – 4,305 – 2,856 – 7,383 – 10.94%

• Alison Fox – 974 – 13,437 – 5,712 – 20,123 – 29.81%

Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 4

• Kevin Patrick Yeary – 1,938 – 38,335 – 21,514 – 61,787 – 100.00%

Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 9

• John Messinger – 1,582 – 33,352 – 18,304 – 53,238 – 78.61%

• Jennifer Balido – 713 – 9,100 – 4,670 – 14,483 – 21.39%

Member, State Board of Education, District 6

• Tiffany Nelson – 1,085 – 22,688 – 12,904 – 36,677 – 71.67%

• Barbara Denson – 615 – 8,959 – 4,923 – 14,497 – 28.33%

Member, State Board of Education, District 8

• Audrey G. Young – 526 – 8,819 – 3,947 – 13,292 – 80.01%

• George Brian Vachris – 91 – 2,026 – 1,204 – 3,321 – 19.99%

State Senator, District 4

• Charlie Miller – 349 – 5,875 – 4,659 – 10,883 – 19.30%

• Brett W. Ligon – 1,674 – 29,308 – 14,511 – 45,493 – 80.70%

State Senator, District 18

• Lois W. Kolkhorst – 141 – 4,265 – 1,974 – 6,380 – 100.00%

State Representative, District 3

• Cecil Bell, Jr – 362 – 6,788 – 4,255 – 11,405 – 44.94%

• Kristen Plaisance – 319 – 8,736 – 4,920 – 13,975 – 55.06%

State Representative, District 15

• Brad Bailey – 602 – 10,305 – 6,013 – 16,920 – 100.00%

State Representative, District 16

• Jon Bouche – 238 – 5,998 – 3,092 – 9,328 – 34.21%

• Will Metcalf – 705 – 11,437 – 5,799 – 17,941 – 65.79%

State Representative, District 18

• Janis Holt – 67 – 1,480 – 697 – 2,244 – 100.00%

Chief Justice, 15th Court of Appeals District

• Scott Brister – 1,923 – 38,442 – 21,508 – 61,873 – 100.00%

Justice, 15th Court of Appeals District, Place 2

• Scott K. Field – 1,923 – 38,197 – 21,379 – 61,499 – 100.00%

Justice, 15th Court of Appeals District, Place 3

• April Farris – 1,911 – 37,964 – 21,276 – 61,151 – 100.00%

Chief Justice, 9th Court of Appeals District

• Scott Golemon – 1,916 – 38,058 – 21,334 – 61,308 – 100.00%

District Judge, 221st Judicial District

• Lisa Michalk – 1,926 – 38,202 – 21,388 – 61,516 – 100.00%

District Judge, 284th Judicial District

• Kristin Bays – 1,935 – 38,054 – 21,293 – 61,282 – 100.00%

District Judge, 359th Judicial District

• Michael H. Ghutzman – 1,494 – 26,589 – 14,181 – 42,264 – 60.09%

• Jo Ann Linzer – 841 – 17,612 – 9,613 – 28,066 – 39.91%

District Attorney, 9th Judicial District, U