DA hopefuls thank supporters, prepare for fall
By BARRY HALVORSON news@leader-news.com

When all the final votes were tallied in Tuesday's local race for the Republican Party nomination in the district attorney race, the key was which candidate did the best job of getting their supporters to vote.

Of the county's 24,239 registered voters, 8,695 ballots were cast in the election, a 35.8 percent turnout. Of those, 5,078 were in the Democratic primary, 58 percent of the total, while 3,617 were cast in the Republican balloting in Wharton County.

The still unofficial results of the election showed current office holder Josh McCown with 1,912 votes, 55.29 percent of the vote; while his opponent Dawn Allison finished with 1,546 votes, 44.71 percent.

"I think the big difference was that I had the support of a lot of great people in Wharton," McCown said Wednesday morning.

"I got great law enforcement backing, which was important, and a lot of good citizens worked for and voted for me. Without the help of those individuals and in particular my family it might have been a different outcome."

McCown added that while both his opponent and the two Democratic candidates were calling for making changes in the office, his 16 years experience as a prosecutor, including being the district attorney since 1995, have met the expectations of a majority of the people.

"Anytime you're in a political race, your opponents have to give the public a reason to kick you out of office," he said.

"They will skew the statistic, try to say there is general unrest and when they cite specific cases it will be issues that only effect a small number of people, but not the entire population. I think the fact that most people are satisfied with the job my office is doing was reflected in the vote."

Allison called her campaign a good experience, but couldn't commit to repeating the experience in he future.

"I really can't say," she said Wednesday. "I never really had political aspirations, but it did allow me to meet so many wonderful people."

She said it is natural that she was disappointed in the results and attributed her loss in part of the heated race for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.

"I had a lot of supporters who said they were planning to vote for me but simply had to vote in the Democratic primary for Clinton or Obama."

Allison added that she currently has no plans to endorse any candidate in the November election.

"I think I'll just step back and let things happen as they will," she said.

"I think that my being in the race helped stir things up and raised public awareness and with that I am satisfied."

While McCown was crediting people's knowing his work for his victory, Democratic nominee John Roades credited the people knowing who he is for making the difference.

"I would imagine the biggest deciding factor is that I've lived here longer (than John Maher) and knew more people when it's all boiled down," he said.

He added the race for winning the November general election is a continuation of the primary race, but did expect things to slow for the immediate future.

"I've been receiving phone calls today congratulating me on my win," he said.

"And in April and May things kind of slow. I'll take some time to mow the lawn and fix a leaky faucet or two before getting back on the campaign trail."

Several phone calls were placed with Maher's office, but were not returned.

Other local candidates advancing in the Democratic party unopposed on Tuesday, listed by office and name, are Tax Assessor-Collector, Patrick Kubala; Precinct 1 County Commissioner, Leroy Dettling; Precinct 1 Constable, Donald Barbee; Precinct 2 Constable, John Szymanski; Precinct 4 Constable, Shawn Ferguson; County Party Chairman, Joe King.

Local Republicans advancing are County Attorney, Trey Maffett; Sheriff, Jess Howell; Precinct 1 Commissioner, Mickey Reynolds; Precinct 3 Commissioner, Philip Miller; Precinct 1 Constable, Dale Potter; Precinct 3 Constable, Lowell Howard; Precinct 4 Constable, Tommy Drapela; County Party Chairman, Debra Medina.

Positions with contested races in November are District Attorney, Precinct 1 County Commissioner, Precinct 1 Constable and Precinct 4 Constable.

Republican results in contested federal and state elections include:

President - John McCain, 1,914; Mike Huckabee, 1,161; Ron Paul, 357.

U.S. Senator - John Cornyn, 2,574; Larry Kilgore, 642.

U.S. Representative - Ron Paul, 2,570; W. Chris Peden, 902.

Judge Court of Criminal Appeals Place 4 - Paul Womack, 1,976; Robert Francis, 660. Referendum 1/Immigration - Yes, 3,229; No, 151.

Referendum 2/Election Photo Identification - Yes 3,067; No, 307.

Referendum 3/Controlling Government Growth - Yes, 2,978; No, 303.

Democratic results in contested federal and state elections include:

President - Hillary Clinton, 2,692; Barack Obama, 2,197.

U.S. Senator - Gene Kelly, 1,342; Rick Noriega, 1,319; Rhett Smith, 660.

Justice Supreme Court Place 7 - Sam Houston, 1,913; Baltasar Cruz, 1,626.

Justice Supreme Court Place 8 - Susan Criss, 2,003; Linda Reyna Yanez, 1,535.

State Board of Education District 2 - Lupe Gonzalez, 1,789; Mary Helen Berlanga, 1,704.