Election
Melissa Mullett won a four-year term as Garvin County Assessor Tuesday as county voters went to the polls Tuesday to cast their primary election ballots.
In the Republican Primary for Garvin County Assessor, Mullett received 67.24% of votes cast, while her opponent Becky Dennis received 32.76% of the votes. The final vote tally in the race was 2,020 to 984.
With only Republican candidates running for the assessor’s office, Tuesday’s primary decided the election.
“I just want to take a minute and tell Garvin County thank you so much, from the bottom of my heart. You went out, you voted, and I could not be more grateful for the support you’ve shown over the last couple of months. … Now I’m ready to get to work and do what I feel God has called me to do,” Mullett said in a video posted to social media after election returns came in Tuesday night.
Cindy Roe, State Representative for House District 42, won reelection in Tuesday’s Republican Primary.
Roe received 2,553 total votes, 298 more than challenger Kaity Keith, who pulled in 2,255 votes. Roe’s vote tally accounted for 53.1% of votes cast. Keith took 46.9% of the votes.
In Garvin County, Roe took a larger lead, earning 62.2% of votes cast in Garvin County compared to Keith’s 37.78%.
With only Republicans filing for the office, Tuesday’s vote will be the final in that race.
Fourth District Congressman Tom Cole won his party’s nomination in Tuesday’s Republican Primary. Cole received 71.12% of the vote, and Marcie Everhart received 28.88%.
In the Democrat Primary for the Fourth District seat, Mitchell Jacob won the nomination with 54.44% of votes. Jeff Pixley received 45.56% of votes.
Cole and Jacob will appear on the Nov. 3 general election ballot with Independent candidate Rocco Bonacci.
In the crowded Republican Primary for governor, the top two candidates, Gentner Drummond (26.26%) and Mike Mazzei (25.97%), are headed for an August 25 runoff election.
Trailing behind Drummond and Mazzei in that race were Chip Keating (18.45%), Jake A. Merrick (14.47%) and Charles (11.79%).
Among Garvin County voters, Chip Keating was the candidate that emerged as the front runner in the Republican Primary for governor, earning 25.93% of the Garvin County vote, followed by Gentner Drummond with 20.98% and Mike Mazzei with 20.01%. Jake A. Merrick pulled in 16.19% and Charles McCall had 14.81% of votes cast in Garvin County.
In Tuesday’s Democrat Primary for governor, Cyndi Munson won her party’s nomination with 74.93% of the vote. Opponent Connie Johnson trailed in second place with 22.27%.
Munson will now move on to the Nov. 3 general election ballot, with the winner of the runoff between Drummond and Mazzei, and Independent candidates Jerry Griffin, Robert E. Brooks and Orlando Lynn Bush.
T.W. Shannon won the Republican Primary for Lieutenant Governor with 53.76% of votes cast. Shannon won 158,584 more votes than the next closest candidate, Darrell Weaver, who received just over 13% of votes cast. Justin JJ Humphrey came in third with 12.55% of the vote.
In Garvin County, Shannon’s lead was a little deeper, coming in with 57.84% of the vote. Justin JJ Humphrey (14.4%) and Darrell Weaver (13.27%) trailed in second and third in Garvin County returns.
Shannon will now face Democrat Kelly Forbes on the November ballot.
Voters across the state, regardless of political affiliation, also weighed in on State Question 832 Tuesday. The measure, which failed 55.38% to 44.62%, would have increased the state’s minimum wage incrementally each year to $15 per hour by 2029. By 2030 the measure would have tied future increases to the rate of inflation.
In Garvin County the measure failed 67.04% to 32.96%.
In other election returns Tuesday, John Echols won the Republican Primary for attorney general, receiving 55% of the vote to defeat opponent Jeff Starling. Echols will now face Democrat Nick Coffey in November.
In the Republican primary for State Treasurer Cindy Byrd won with 61.66% of the votes cast to defeat incumbent state treasurer Todd Russ, who received 38.34%.
Byrd will now face Libertarian Kiefer Perry in November.
In the race for State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Republicans Robert Franklin and James Taylor will go to an August runoff after receiving 22.6% and 19.68% of the vote, respectively.
The winner of that runoff will face Democrat Jennettie Marshall on the November ballot. Marshall won the Democratic nomination Tuesday with 57.69% of the votes. Her opponent Craig McVay won 42.31%.
There will also be a Republican runoffs for Labor Commissioner and Insurance Commissioner in August.
The Labor commissioner race will be between Kevin West (41.78%) and John Pfeiffer (35.27%). The winner will appear on November’s ballot against Democrat Kevin Dawson and Libertarian Mike Hall.
The Insurance Commissioner runoff will be between Republicans Bob Sullivan (37.37%) and Marty L Quinn (27.68%). The winner will face off against Democrat Craig MacIntyre in November.
In the race for Corporation Commissioner, Republican Brad Boles will face Democrat Rhonda Eastman on the November ballot.
In the election to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Markwayne Mullin, Republican Kevin Hern won his party’s nomination with 69.76% of the vote. In the Democrat Primary for the seat, N’Kiyla Jasmine Thomas received 45.18% of votes and will move on to an August runoff with Jim Priest, who received 23.86% of the vote. The winner of that runoff will appear on November’s ballot with Hern, Libertarian Sevier White, and Independent candidates Curtis Stinnett and Ron Meinhardt.
Tuesday’s election results are unofficial until certified by the state or county election board.