Incumbents, challengers file for seats

<b>By Libby Cluett</b><br><a href="mailto:lcluett@mineralwellsindex.com">lcluett@mineralwellsindex.com</a>

Palo Pinto County party chairs were in full swing Thursday for the first day of filing for the 2010 Republican and Democratic primary elections.

Republicans met Thursday morning in a meet-greet-and-file event at the party’s temporary headquarters inside the Brazos Mall.

Most of the local Republican candidates officially filed Thursday with county chair Barbara Upham.

Later on Thursday, the Index caught up with Lanie Wright, chair of the Palo Pinto County Democratic Party, and Precinct 4 commissioner candidate Lee Saunders, who stopped by for paperwork and coaching.

For information on filing as a candidate contact:

• Democrats – Lanie Wright (940) 325-4556 or (940) 452-0998. She is accepting applications at 312 Roy Green Road wr.wright@yahoo.com.

• Republicans – Barbara Upham at (940) 798-2665 or barbaraupham@yahoo.com. The party’s official address is 9590 North U.S. 281, Mineral Wells, TX 76067 and the mailing address is P.O. Box 83, Mineral Wells, TX, 76068.

“The decision to become a candidate should be carefully thought out,” said Upham. “It is a tremendous commitment of time, energy and resources.”

“It is a very serious decision; It is life-changing and the family of the candidate has to be on board,” said Wright. “It is grueling to run for office. You put yourself out there and have to take your lumps and bumps.”

The filing deadline is 6 p.m. Jan. 4, so candidates have about a month to decide and file. The following are local seats on the 2010 ballot:

County Judge

• Incumbent Mike Smiddy, who previously run as a Democrat, said he plans to run for another term and said he just filed his appointment of campaign treasurer form with the county clerk. He told the Index he would make a formal announcement later.

District Clerk

• Democratic incumbent Janie Glover previously said she will seek re-election and remain affiliated with the Democratic Party for her next run at a four-year term. She has served as district clerk since 2004.

County Clerk

• Incumbent County Clerk Bobbie Smith has run as a Democrat in the past. She previously confirmed she would file to hold her seat, but said she hasn’t determined which ticket she will file under.

• Janette Green, a Deputy Tax Clerk in the County Tax Assessor-Collector office, will challenge Smith as a Republican.

County Treasurer

• Incumbent Mary Motley said she will run for re-election in 2010 as a Democrat.

• Tanya Fallon – a former Democratic county treasurer – is running for the office again, but as a Republican this time. Fallon served as county treasurer for 12 years, from 1987 to 1999, when she stepped down.

Pct. 2 Commissioner (includes Graford, Oran, Salesville northeastern and parts of northwestern Mineral Wells, Possum Kingdom Lake’s Pickwick and Fox Hollow)

• Incumbent Ed Laney is running for a second four-year term as a Republican.

• Michael Horton is one of two Republican challengers. Horton worked as a rodeo clown and lives on Hayes Road, north of Mineral Wells.

• Louis Ragle, of Graford, is a second Republican challenger. Ragle owns Graford-based K&R Tank Trucks, a saltwater tank company.

Pct. 4 Commissioner (includes southeastern Mineral Wells, Santo, Brazos, Lone Camp and Progress)

• Incumbent Jeff Fryer will run again as a Republican and, to date, is not challenged for the party’s March primary.

• Lee Saunders of Santo will run for the office on the Democratic side of the ticket. Saunders is a county detention officer/road hand and a licensed jailer. He supervises Palo Pinto County jail road crew trusties for Precincts 1 and 3.

All justice of the peace offices are up for election. They are:

JP, Pct. 1

(Palo Pinto, Santo, Lone Camp, Brazos and Sportsman’s World/Gaines Bend/The Cliffs)

• Incumbent Todd Baker has not yet filed.

JP, Pct. 2

(Graford, Oran and Salesville)

• Incumbent Jerry Mitchell has served as JP for 19 years as a Democrat and said he is in the process of deciding whether to file.

• Shane Long will run for the office on the Republican ticket. Long has served for over 13 years as pastor of Abundant Life Church in Graford. Prior to that, he worked for the Brazos River Authority as an instrument monitoring technician, where he watched for movement in the dam in the late 1980s after repairs.

JP, Pct. 3

(Pickwick and Fox Hollow at Possum Kingdom Lake)

• Republican incumbent Shawn J. Humphries will seek re-election.

JP, Pct. 4

(Strawn, Mingus, Gordon, Palo Pinto Lake and its western shore)

• Democratic incumbent Charlie “Coppy” Hodgkins Jr. will seek re-election. He took office in 1979, to complete an unexpired term, then ran for election to fill out two years of that term. He is a lifelong resident of Strawn. He’s been in office for 30 years and said this will likely be his last term. He said he’s been told by the Justice of the Peace Courts office that he’s currently the longest sitting JP in the state of Texas.

JP, Pct. 5

(Mineral Wells, Progress and Brazos Valley – northwest of Mineral Wells)

• Incumbent Bobby Hart has been Precinct 5 Justice of the Peace for the past nine-and-a-half years as a Democrat. But this will change in 2010 when he seeks to retain his seat as a Republican.