Several local entities will be holding elections in the March 5, 2024, primaries. To vote in March, and in November’s General Election— including presidential race— voters must be properly registered by February 5. To register or check your status you can visit www.voteTexas. gov or call Menard County Elections Office (located in the courthouse) at 396-4523. Repeating: If you care to vote in this year’s presidential election, you must be registered to vote by February 5!
If getting into politics is your style, there are some local elections with filing dates still open to run. The available ballot spots lie within Menard ISD Board of Trustees, Menard County Hospital District Board of Directors, and Menard City Council. Read on for a summary of each local election and how you can file to run if applicable.
Menard ISD
Menard ISD Board of Trustees will have 3 full-term Single Member District (SMD) places on the March ballot. Each incumbent has filed for reelection to their 3-year terms. As of press time no one has filed to challenge the school board incumbents. Those incumbents/SMDs are: SMD 2, Steve Terrell; SMD 3, Willy Wright; SMD 5, Matt Gainer.
The last day to file to run for school board is Friday, February 16. Contact the school administration office for an application or for more information. Trustee positions are not “at-large,” meaning a candidate must run in the SMD of which they reside and are registered to vote. A map of districts is available at the administration office, 221 E. San Saba Ave. or 325-3962404.
In addition to the 3 full term spots up for election, MISD SMD 6 requires a special election this cycle. Following Kyra Ramon’s 2023 resignation from place 6, Susie Lyckman was appointed to the position in which 1 year remained. Ramon is completing her teaching degree and is unable to legally be employed by MISD for one year post school board service. Ramon’s resignation date allows her to take a position with MISD in August if applicable. Lyckman will appear on the March ballot, so far unchallenged, for the remaining year of that term. Next year the SMD 6 place will be up for election again, this time back in regular cycle as a full 3-year term. The filing deadline to run for the final year of this SMD 6 term is February 16. Contact the administration office for more information.
Menard County Hospital District
County Hospital Board of Director terms are 2 years. All incumbents holding seats up for election have indicated their intention to file for reelection, with no challengers as of press time. The incumbents are JoNell Wilkinson, Sheridan Duncan and Janis Cordes. The deadline to file for a spot on the March ballot is February 16, 2024. Go by the business office at Menard Manor, 100 Gay St., to fill out an application.
Menard City Council
Three positions within the City of Menard governance are up for election this primary season. Terms include Mayor and Alderman (City Council person) positions SMD 4 and SMD 5. Each of these terms are 2 years in length.
As of press time, current Mayor Barbara Hooten has filed for reelection with no challengers filed. Tyler Wagner, the SMD 4 councilman, has filed for reelection, also with no challengers as of press time. Current SMD 5 councilman Dean Mayhew has not file for reelection as of press time. Cody Swindall has filed to run for SMD 5.
City Council seats are “atlarge,” meaning a candidate does not have to reside in the district they represent; however, only voters within each district may vote for their councilperson.
February 16 is also the last day to file to run for these City of Menard seats. Go by City Hall, 108 E. San Saba Ave. to obtain an application or call 325-396-4706 for more information.
County of Menard
As covered in weeks past, Menard County voters will see several elections on their March ballots, some of them as contested races. The filing deadlines for these positions have passed.
Current Menard County Sheriff Buck Miller did not file for reelection. Burl Hagler and Dwaine Rayburn have both filed to run on the Republican ticket.
Current County Chair of the Menard County Republican Party Susan Williamson did not seek reelection. Current Pct. 1 chair Lisa Clark has filed to run for county chair. Clark will be challenged by George 'Randy' Corbin for the position.
Nancy Jacoby filed to run for the Pct. 1 chair and will face Barry Kniffen on the March 5 ballot.
Thomas (Tom) A Compton will face incumbent Penny Wade for Precinct 4 chair.
Incumbent precinct chairs Gary Roberson (Pct. 2), Virginia Hill (Pct. 3), and Janice Hardesty (Pct. 6) will all run unopposed. These unopposed incumbent chairs will not appear on the primary ballot.
Other incumbents who will run unopposed in the primaries are County Attorney Luke Davis; Tax Assessor/ Collector Tim Powell; Constable Lee Callan; County Commissioner Pct. 1 Frank Davis; Commissioner Pct. 3 Ed Keith.
All the above-named county candidates are running on the Republican ticket to become the Republican nominee for the General Election in November. Because there are no Democratic candidates filed for any of these positions, the winner of the contested March primaries will be unopposed in November.
Early voting begins Tuesday, February 20 and ends Friday March 1, 2024. Election Day is Tuesday, March 5.
If our readership expresses the desire for additional information from candidates in contested races, The News is willing to construct a forum of some sort to allow those candidates to address voters if they agree. Please let us know via our Facebook page, by email (paige@menardnews. com; collyn@menardnews. com), call the office 3962243.