Rich Flowers
The Athens Review
Athens — Henderson County voters stayed close to the fold in statewide races Tuesday, reflecting in most cases the state preference.
County Republican voters gave a wide edge to Governor Rick Perry with 48 percent favoring his re-election bid. Kay Bailey Hutchison finished with 28 percent while Debra Medina ran a strong third at a surprising 23.5 percent.
On the Democratic side, Bill White ran away with the vote as he did statewide carrying 87.1 percent in the county.
In the Land Commissioner race, Bill Burton of Athens, was locked in one of the closest races in the state, trailing Hector Uribe 50.4 to 49.5 percent with just a few precincts out. In Henderson County, Burton had just over 80 percent of the vote.
Democrats statewide favored Hank Gilbert over Richard “Kinky” Friedman 52.96 percent to 47.03 percent. Henderson Count voters gave the one time LaPoynor Ag instructor a slightly larger edge at 54.49 to 45.50 percent.
Henderson County Republican voters gave a strong approval to incumbent Precinct 3 Justice of the Peace Sue Starnes, with 70 percent of the vote.
Republicans chose Kelly Harris over Steve Gullekson to face incumbent Democrat Sue Tarrant in the race for Precinct 4 JP. Harris polled a little over 68 percent of the total.
