Coryell County runoff election set for County Judge, two commissioner races

Coryell County voters will settle the County Judge race and two commissioner contests in the May 26 runoff, with early voting set for May 18 through May 22 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Gatesville Annex, 800 East Main Street, Suite B, and the Copperas Cove Early Voting Center, 809 South Main Street.

Election Day is Tuesday, May 26, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at four county sites: the Gatesville Annex/Tax Office, the Gatesville Civic Center at 303 Veterans Memorial Loop, the Copperas Cove Civic Center at 1206 West Avenue B, and the Copperas Cove Tax Office/Early Voting Center. Coryell County says those Election Day locations are countywide vote centers, so voters may cast a ballot at any of them regardless of precinct.

The runoff will decide whether Roger Miller or Rob Erwin becomes Coryell County Judge, whether Scott Weddle or Tully Meyer wins Precinct 2 commissioner, and whether Ray Ashby or Justin Smith takes the Precinct 4 seat. In the March 3 Republican primary, Erwin led Miller 3,066 votes to 2,748, or 49.76% to 44.93%, while Latisha Walton received 395 votes. Weddle finished first in Precinct 2 with 633 votes, or 49.7%, ahead of Tully Meyer with 266, Fahron Nolte with 194 and Tiffany Butler with 179. In Precinct 4, Ashby led with 578 votes, followed by Justin D. Smith with 335, incumbent Keith Taylor with 318 and Carroll L. Starkey with 303. None of the leading candidates cleared the 50%-plus-one mark, forcing runoff contests in all three races.

The county judge post carries unusual weight in Coryell County because the Texas Constitution gives the office broad judicial and administrative authority. The county judge presides over the five-member Commissioners’ Court, helps steer the county budget, and also has responsibility for calling elections and canvassing returns. That makes the runoff more than a routine party contest; it will decide who sits at the center of county government when budget, court and election decisions are made.

Voters also need to know which ballot they can use. Texas election guidance says anyone who voted in one party’s March primary may vote only in that same party’s runoff this year. Voters who did not take part in the March primary may still vote in either party’s runoff. The March primary drew 9,867 total voters in Coryell County, a 72% increase over the similar March 2024 comparison, but still only a fraction of the 42,839 registered voters the county had in 2022. That gap is why a small number of ballots can decide who runs the county courthouse for the next term.