Published: March 12, 2008 09:43 am         

Filings end in city, school board races

By Lacie Morrison
lmorrison@mineralwellsindex.com

Some Palo Pinto County voters still have some voting to do before the November general election as a few local entities prepare for contested city council and school board elections in May.

In Graford, the residents will find themselves picking two names from three city council candidates, while Mayor Carl Walston was the only resident to run for the mayoral seat. On the Graford school board, incumbents Jakie Long and Hal Brown filed to retain their seats and will encounter newcomers Cole Hargrove and Brandi Larson on the ballot.

Gordon’s city council will see two new faces without requiring an election as Pat Sublett was unopposed for the mayoral seat and Lillie Petty and David Milmo filed for the two at-large seats filled by incumbents Mary Lucille Barron and Ted Young. Barron and Young did not file for re-election.

The school district, however, will see an election as Eli Stockstill and Jimmy Hunt filed for one of the three at-large seats on the school board as well as newcomers Kirby Wiginton and Brett Trigg.

Mineral Wells City Council will see almost all the same faces in May though Ward 2 councilman and mayor pro-tem Mike Allen was unopposed for the mayoral seat. His appointment to the position of mayor will leave Ward 2 open until someone is appointed.

Incumbents Ward 1 councilman Tommy Blissittee and Ward 3 councilman John Ritchie were not opposed.

The Mineral Wells ISD school board appears to be off to a crowded start after filing ended Monday with two latecomers submitting their applications on the last day. Board incumbent Joel Hardeman is facing two challengers for Place 6 - newcomer Tim Hopkins and former board member Rodney Henderson. Henderson lost his Place 5 position to Mike Tincher in last year’s election.

Place 7 drew four contenders for this year’s election – Pat Bazzell, Ray Garcia, Clarence Holliman and Ellie Starr. Bazzell and Garcia filed Monday. The seat’s incumbent, Doug Pennington, opted not to run again.

None of the city councils for Strawn, Mingus or Millsap will see a change as the current incumbents all filed by Monday unopposed to retain their positions. In Mingus, however, councilwoman Katie Evans is a relatively new face on the city council as she was appointed in February to a vacant council position, said Mingus’ Christy Tibletts.

Some of the outlying school districts will have new school board members without undergoing an election. In Millsap ISD, Mike Stack was the only incumbent to file for the school board; David Morten and Alven Frazier will be replaced by Alan Richardson and Christy Burton.

In Strawn, school board members Nancy Mallory and Jim Troutman filed for their seats, joined by Mindy Hodgkins.

Dates to Remember:

• March 17 – last day to file as a write-in candidate.

•April 10 – last day to register to vote.

• April 28-May 6 – early voting by personal appearance.

• May 2 – last day to receive application for mail-in ballots.

• May 10 – election day at the high school.