Voters pick McCown, Roades for November DA race

JOHN ROADES JR. Democratic Nominee

Early leads were all Wharton County District Attorney hopefuls on both the Republican and Democratic tickets needed to lock in positions on the November ballot.

Voters selected Josh McCown over Dawn Allison in the Republican Party primary with McCown, the incumbent, collecting 1,912 votes to Allison's 1,546.

On the Democratic ticket, John Roades Jr. got the nod over John Maher. Roades collected a total of 2,557 ballots to Maher's 1,769.

McCown and Roades will face each other in the November general election.

Early Wharton County voters gave a vote of confidence to McCown on the Republican ballot. Of the 1,577 early GOP ballots marking a selection in that race, McCown collected 885 votes to challenger Allison's 692.

On the Democratic ticket, early primary voters gave Roades a strong lead casting 1,040 for him in comparison to 668 for Maher, also an attorney.

McCown has been the Wharton County DA since the office was created 17 years ago. Allison is a former assistant Wharton County district attorney who also has experience as a criminal defense attorney and teaches law-related topics.

JOSH McCOWN Republican Nominee

Roades is an El Campo lawyer and Wharton attorney with experience as both a county and district attorney while his challenger John Maher, also a Wharton attorney, has a varied legal experience.

Please see the upcoming Saturday edition of the El Campo Leader-News for comments from DA candidates and additional coverage of the March primaries.

Although the DA's position was the only local race contested at the primary level, three others will be contested in November.

Constable Precinct 4 Democratic incumbent Shawn Ferguson faces Republican candidate Thomas Drapela in November.

In the Commissioner Precinct 1 race, incumbent Republican Mickey Reynolds will be opposed by Democrat Leroy Dettling while Democrat Constable Precinct 1 incumbent Donald Barbee will face Republican Dale Potter.