Coryell County votes in new commissioner in runoff

By LYNETTE SOWELL

Cove Leader-Press

The race for Coryell County Commissioner Precinct 4 came down to just 66 votes in the May 24 runoff.

In early and absentee voting, Jonesboro’s Keith Taylor led with 220 votes, to incumbent Ray Ashby’s 189 votes.

When the final unofficial results came in just after 8 p.m. Tuesday, in the end, not enough votes had come in for Ashby to overtake his opponent.

According to the final unofficial results released by county election administrator Justin Carothers, Taylor received 418 votes to Ashby’s 356 votes from Precinct 4 voters.

In the March 1 primary, Ashby received 40.63 percent  of the votes, with Taylor receiving 33.18 percent. Former Copperas Cove mayor Bradi Diaz received 26.19 percent.

This is the sole race left for Coryell County races, with the other races having been decided in the March 1 primary, or the candidates ran unopposed.

In the March 1 primary, incumbent Coryell County Judge Roger Miller won with 55.6 percent of the votes and will begin his second term in office on Jan. 1, 2023. Another March 1 race decided the position of County Commissioner Precinct 2, with Scott Weddle receiving 61.7 percent of the votes and will replace Daren Moore in Jan.

Other Coryell County races were unopposed and include County Court at Law, John Lee; District Clerk, Becky Moore; County Clerk, Jennifer Newton; County Treasurer, Randi McFarlin; Justice of the Peace, Precinct 1, John Guinn; Justice of the Peace, Precinct 2, F.W. “Bill” Price; Justice of the Peace, Precinct 3, Jim Caldwell; Justice of the Peace, Precinct 4, Coy Latham.

With all county races being unopposed by any Democratic party candidates, the March 1 winners and the winner of the May 24 runoff will secure their seats in office and will take office on Jan. 1, 2023.