Jefferson & Hardin County Sheriffs Win; Newton, Liberty & Tyler County Sheriffs Lose
By: Angel San Juan
Updated: May 29, 2012
Southeast Texas voters cast ballots in several area sheriff races.
Jefferson County Sheriff Mitch Woods and Hardin County Sheriff Ed Cain easily survived challenges in their primary races.
Woods defeated Precinct 6 Constable Joe Stevenson, and Cain bested Darrell Werner.
But not all incumbents had a good night.
In Newton County, Sheriff Joe Walker lost his race by just 26 votes to Eddie Shannon.
Another close one was in Tyler County, where Bryan Weatherford beat incumbent Sheriff David Hennigan by 82 votes.
Weatherford resigned as Justice of the Peace for Precinct 1 to run for Sheriff.
Three people ran for the vacant J.P. seat, but Trisher Ford won that race with 65% of the vote.
In another closely watched race, Christopher Bates avoided a runoff, even though he had three opponents, by getting 53% of the vote in the race for Jefferson County Constable Precinct 2.
That race is to fill the seat left vacant by retiring Constable Leonard Roccaforte.
Jefferson County Sheriff Mitch Woods and Hardin County Sheriff Ed Cain easily survived challenges in their primary races.
Woods defeated Precinct 6 Constable Joe Stevenson, and Cain bested Darrell Werner.
But not all incumbents had a good night.
In Newton County, Sheriff Joe Walker lost his race by just 26 votes to Eddie Shannon.
Another close one was in Tyler County, where Bryan Weatherford beat incumbent Sheriff David Hennigan by 82 votes.
Weatherford resigned as Justice of the Peace for Precinct 1 to run for Sheriff.
Three people ran for the vacant J.P. seat, but Trisher Ford won that race with 65% of the vote.
In another closely watched race, Christopher Bates avoided a runoff, even though he had three opponents, by getting 53% of the vote in the race for Jefferson County Constable Precinct 2.
That race is to fill the seat left vacant by retiring Constable Leonard Roccaforte.
