Today is Election Day

By Phillip Williams

Upshur County voters will cast ballots Tuesday in the statewide election for offices ranging from United States senator and the U.S. House of Representatives to governor and seats in the state Legislature, among others.
After early in-person voting at the Gilmer Civic Center ends Friday, polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. election day at 15 other locations throughout the county. Early voting meantime continues from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. both Thursday (Oct. 29) and Friday at the center on U.S. 271.
While all candidates for county office here are unopposed Republicans, considerable attention has focused statewide and nationally on the senate race between GOP longtime Attorney General Ken Paxton, Democrat veteran State Rep. James Talarico, and little-known Libertarian candidate Ted Brown.
Brown, however, became possibly the first-ever Libertarian candidate for Texas statewide office to do television advertising.
The trio seeks to succeed Republican John Cornyn, who was unseated by Paxton in the Republican runoff earlier this year.
Another race drawing notice, though less than the senate contest, is between longtime Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, seeking re-election against veteran Democrat State Rep. Gina Hinojosa and Libertarian Pat Dixon, a former Lago Vista city councilman.
The two Republican state legislators currently representing Upshur County also have Democratic opponents in their respective bids for re-election.
District 1 State Sen. Bryan Hughes faces Laticia Ambroz, while District 5 State Rep. Cole Hefner opposes Hector Garza.
Upshur County’s congressional district was re-drawn by the Legislature to put Upshur in District 32–meaning that Rep. Nathaniel Moran, who represented the county in the past, is now running in a different district which doesn’t include Upshur. In the newly-configured District 32, which includes Upshur, Republican Jace Yarbrough faces Democrat Dan Barrios, a Richardson city councilman, for the House seat.
At the state level, longtime Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has three opponents in his bid for re-election: Democratic State Rep. Vikki Goodwin, Libertarian Anthony Cristo, and Green Party candidate Kevin McCormick.
Numerous other offices, some of which are uncontested, are on the ballot.
All early in-person voting, but no election-day voting, is at the civic center. As of shortly after 10 a.m. Monday, some 6,477 Upshur Countians had cast early ballots, 6,053 in person and 424 by mail, said County Elections Administrator Lory Harle.
She called that “a pretty big turnout” of the county’s 31,183 registered voters, and predicted the overall number of early ballots will exceed the approximately 7,800 in the last mid-term election in 2022. More than 1,000 voted the first day of early in-person voting on Oct. 19, she said.
Mailed-in ballots must be postmarked no later than Nov. 3 and received by Nov. 4, Harle has said.
Under Upshur’s “countywide” voting system, any county voter can vote at any of the 15 polling sites on election day.
They include Indian Rock Baptist Church, East Mountain Community Center, Glenwood Water Development Corp., Ashland Lodge No. 1138 (in Diana community), Redemption Worship Center/First Assembly of God on U.S. 271 in Gilmer and Walnut Creek Baptist Church.
Others include Ore City Community Center, Frontier Cowboy Church on FM 593, Big Sandy Civic Center, Pritchett Community Center, St. James Baptist Church in Gladewater, Enon Community Center, Oak Hill Baptist Church (near Bettie community), Rosewood Baptist Church fellowship hall and the Upshur County Library.
For more information on the election, contact Harle’s downtown Gilmer office at 903-680-8165 or 903-680-8506, email lory.harle@countyofupshur.com, or visit the county’s website at countyofupshur.com.