Elections Set for Saturday

Elections Set for Saturday

By Greg Ritchie

Messenger Reporter

HOUSTON COUNTY –  The forums, online arguments and forest of campaign signs will soon be at an end, as elections across Houston County for city and school elections will be held this Saturday, May 6. Early voting, which began April 24, ended Tuesday, May 2. 

Early voting has been reported as steady, if not record-breaking, as many preferred to get their vote cast before the official election day. Saturday’s forecast looks to be dry and warm, with rain before and after, but a high around 90 and sunny. 

Weather forecasts and political forecasts can be wrong, so The Messenger has no predictions on either, however we will break election news Saturday night on our social media pages as it becomes available. 

In the city of Crockett, the races are as follows:

Crockett Mayor:

Dr. Ianthia Fisher (I)

Connie Strban

Crocket City Council Precinct One:

Samantha Wiley

Joe Don James

Dennis Ivey

Crockett City Council Precinct Two:

Darryl Jones (I)

Gene Caldwell

Voting locations for Saturday will be open from 7 a.m.-7 p.m.:

Precinct #1 – All Saints Episcopal Church Annex – 1301 E. Houston Ave.

Precinct #2 – St. Francis Parish Hall – 609 N. 4th Street

Precinct #3 – Crockett High School – 1600 S. W. Loop 304

Precinct #4 – Crockett Administration Building – 1400 W Austin

Precinct #5 – Sr. Citizens Center – 716 Wells Street

Contact the city of Crockett if you are unsure of your precinct. You can only vote for the council member of your precinct but all Crockett residents can vote for mayor. 

The races for city council have been mostly courteous in precinct one, with precinct two setting records for online back-and-forth, with both candidates making allegations against the other. 

The mayoral race will be one of the most important as voters decide whether to give incumbent Mayor Dr. Ianthia Fisher another go at the helm of the city or give local real estate broker Connie Strban a chance to govern. 

The Houston County Hospital District (HCHD) will hold elections for two different positions this Saturday. (See a feature story on the recent HCHD candidate forum held recently.) At issue is what kind of hospital the county needs and the best way to achieve that. HCHD recently welcomed new operator MidCoast Health System which took over operations Monday, May 1. The HCHD election is unique in that any voter eligible to vote can vote for any of the candidates in any seat. The candidates and their positions are:

Position 1 – Barbara Crowson (I), Buddy Clonts, Kim Spellman

Position 5 – Roy Langford (I), Tami English McCreight

Voting locations for HCHD elections will be:

Precinct 1 – Bethel Baptist Church, Crockett

Precinct 2, 22 – Grace Lutheran Church, Crockett

Precinct 3 – Crockett ISD Administration Building (Cafeteria)

Precinct 4, 11, 12 – Houston County Senior’s Center, Crockett

Precinct 5, 6 – Grapeland First Methodist Church

Precinct 7, 18 – Lovelady Community Center (Building 2)

Precinct 8, 20 – Weches Fire Station

Precinct 9, 10 – Austonio Community Center

Precinct 14, 16 – Wilcox Community Center

Precinct 17 – Weldon Baptist Church

Precinct 19, 21 – First Baptist Church Kennard

As recently reported in The Messenger, Grapeland is set for big elections, both for city council and Grapeland Independent School Board (GISD.) The candidates for those positions are:

Grapeland City Council:

Velda Green (I)

George R. Pierson (I)

Pip McGee

Tom DeLong

Greg Vaden

Paul Adamson

Grapeland ISD School Board:

Position 1 – Brad Spisak (I), Travis Brown

Position 2 – Twila Ibarra, T.C. Howard

Position 5 – Josh Goolsby (I), Cannon Vickers

You can vote for candidates in both of these races Saturday at the Grapeland Junior High Library, also from 7 a.m.-7 p.m.

Other races being watched closely around the county are:

Latexo ISD School Board:

Position 1 – Willie Patton (I), Virgie Stewart

Voting for Latexo ISD will be from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. at Wilcox Community Center, 298 F.M. 2663, Crockett. 

Kennard ISD School Board: (two open positions)

Britanni Womack (I)

Jarod Currie

Ronnie Cole

There are three candidates running for the two open positions. The voting for Kennard ISD will be Kennard First Baptist Church, 300 Carson Street, Kennard. As in the other races, voting is from 7 a.m.-7 p.m.

Greg Ritchie can be reached at [email protected]