Races set for March primary

Published Thursday, January 3, 2008

By Brandon Evans

Wednesday at 6 p.m. marked the cut-off date and time to register as a candidate in the March primary election.

At least one candidate was forced to race down the interstate in order to file on time.

Wise County Attorney Greg Lowery drove to Austin on Wednesday to file for the position of district attorney for Wise and Jack counties.

Although Lowery has intended to run for district attorney for some time, state law prevented him from filing until at least Jan. 1, and state offices were closed on Tuesday due to the holiday.

Lowery is running under the banner of the Republican party.

If Lowery had chosen to file for district attorney before Jan. 1, he would have been forced to resign his current position as county attorney.

Current office holders cannot file to run for another position when more than one year remains in their term.

Lowery just entered the fourth year of his second term as county attorney.

If elected, Lowery said he intends to try more cases.

"I just think someone needs to get into office that is going to try more cases and is not afraid of the courtroom," he said.

He said the district attorney's office only tried three cases during all of 2007.

Lowery feels his experience as county attorney has prepared him for the district attorney position.

"It's basically the same job, the elements of the cases are similar."

The difference is the county attorney handles misdemeanor cases, while the district attorney's office covers felony cases.

It appears Lowery has no opponent in the primary election. However, he will face Democrat Gerald L. Hartley in the general election in November.

Hartley previously served as an assistant Wise County attorney from 1998 to 2000 for Todd Durden. Hartley, a resident of Runaway Bay, has also served as the city manager's assistant in DeSoto from 1980 to 1984 and as acting city manager twice, as city manager of Brinkley, Ark., from 1984 to 1987, and as city manager of Bowie from 1987 to 1992.

Where are the Democrats?

As of Wednesday at noon, only one Democrat besides Hartley had filed for a local office up for election in November.

Dennis Hudson, the incumbent constable of precinct 1, was the lone filer. He looks to compete against Republican Tom Bishop in the November election.

However, Wise County's new Democratic party chair, Pat Wheeler, said she anticipated several candidates would file before the 6 p.m. deadline.

Meanwhile, the Republican primary race for precinct 1 commissioner continues to attract candidates. Cory Schwenn of Rhome is the most recent to add his name to list of potential candidates.

Schwenn will compete against incumbent Robert Rankin and hopefuls Danny White and John W. Peterson in the March primary.

Wise County Republican Party Chair D. A. Sharpe said he anticipates a run-off to occur for the precinct 1 commissioner due to the number of primary candidates.

A candidate must earn 50 percent or more of the vote in order to win the Republican nomination.

If no candidate breaks the 50 percent marker, the two with the highest percentages move on to a run-off election.

Incumbent Monte Shaw (R) has filed to run for the position of tax-collector and assessor. He looks to run unopposed in the both the primary and November elections.

Another cut and dried race appears to be that of precinct 3 commissioner. Incumbent Mikel Richardson (R) is still the lone candidate of either party as of early Wednesday afternoon.

The primary election date is March 4. Early voting for the March primary will be held from Feb. 19 to Feb. 29.

Editor's note: The filing deadline to register was at 6 p.m. Wednesday, after the Messenger's presstime.