Collin County voters who went to the polls in the March 3 GOP primary election saw just a handful of contested races on their ballots, even though every partisan-elected office in the county is held by a Republican.
Yet voters and candidates alike packed an election night watch party hosted by Collin County Conservative Republicans and eagerly awaited the results of those races.
Precinct 3 Commissioner Darrell Hale held off an unexpected challenge from Steve Terrell, former mayor of Allen, winning by a 56-44 percent margin.
Hale, who was first elected in 2018 to fill the unexpired term of now-County Judge Chris Hill, ran on his record of keeping campaign promises while serving as commissioner and earned support from all conservative organizations that endorsed in the race, including Texans for Fiscal Responsibility.
In a hotly contested race for the 380th District Court, incumbent Judge Ben Smith easily defeated challenger Melvin Thathiah 82-18 percent. Thathiah was encouraged to run by Plano residents upset with Smith’s handling of a case involving a referendum on the controversial Plano Tomorrow development plan. Many GOP primary voters told Texas Scorecard they were turned off by the negative campaigning in the race.
A three-way race for the open 401st District Court resulted in a runoff between attorneys George Flint and Sarah Fox. Flint and Fox each received 40 percent of the vote, while Brook Fulks took 20 percent.
Flint, who was endorsed by Texans for Courageous Courts, told Texas Scorecard he remains “cautiously optimistic” that he can earn the support of a majority of voters in the runoff.
Republican incumbents in the seven other district judge races on the ballot this year were uncontested.
In the lone contested Collin County constable race—and the lone incumbent loss—challenger Mike Vance upset current Constable Shane Williams 62-38 percent. Vance is a recently retired sheriff’s deputy with over 34 years of law enforcement experience.
In a disappointing loss for grassroots conservatives, challenger Scott Grigg was bested in a countywide contest for tax assessor-collector by 34-year incumbent Ken Maun, who took 59 percent of the vote.
The five members of Collin County’s state House delegation—all Republicans—ran unopposed for re-election, though all will face Democrat challengers in November.
At the top of the Republican ticket, President Donald Trump easily swept the state and county, as did U.S. Senator John Cornyn.
In two other contested statewide races on the ballot, incumbent Railroad Commissioner Ryan Sitton lost to challenger Jim Wright, and Criminal Court of Appeals, Place 3 Judge Bert Richardson bested challenger Gina Parker.
Below are unofficial results from races in the county. An asterisk denotes an incumbent. “TFR” indicates a candidate endorsed by Texans for Fiscal Responsibility.
Collin County
- Sheriff – Jim Skinner* (unopposed)
- Tax Assessor-Collector – Ken Maun* (59.12%), Scott Grigg (40.88%)
- County Commissioner, Precinct 1 – Susan Fletcher* (unopposed)
- County Commissioner, Precinct 3 – Darrell Hale* [TFR] (55.52%), Steve Terrell (44.48%)
- Constable, Precinct 1 – Mike Vance (62.12%), Shane Williams* (37.88%)
- Constable, Precinct 2 – Gary Edwards* (unopposed)
- Constable, Precinct 3 – Sammy Knapp* (unopposed)
- Constable, Precinct 4 – Joe Wright* (unopposed)
District Judges
- 199th Judicial District – Angela Tucker* (unopposed)
- 366th Judicial District – Tom Nowak* (unopposed)
- 380th Judicial District – Ben Smith* (82.45%), Melvin Thathiah (17.55%)
- 401st Judicial District – Sarah Fox (40.43%), George Flint [TFR] (39.51%), Brook Fulks (20.06%) [Runoff]
- 416th Judicial District – Andrea Thompson* (unopposed)
- 468th Judicial District – Lindsey Wynne* (unopposed)
- 469th Judicial District – Piper McCraw* (unopposed)
- 470th Judicial District – Emily Miskel* (unopposed)
- 471st Judicial District – Andrea Bouressa* (unopposed)
5th Court of Appeals Justices
- Place 3 – David Evans (unopposed)
- Place 6 – David Bridges* (unopposed)
- Place 8 – Bill Whitehill* (unopposed)
Texas House of Representatives
- District 33 – Justin Holland* (unopposed)
- District 66 – Matt Shaheen* (unopposed)
- District 67 – Jeff Leach* (unopposed)
- District 70 – Scott Sanford* (unopposed)
- District 89 – Candy Noble* (unopposed)
U.S. House of Representatives
- District 3 – Van Taylor* [TFR] (unopposed)
- District 4 – John Ratcliffe* [TFR] (unopposed)
Texas Republicans also approved all 10 nonbinding policy preference propositions on the primary ballot.
The general election takes place on November 3, 2020.
