County filing period to start Nov. 15
By Donnie A. Lucas
The filing period for March 2022 primary elections officially opened on Saturday, Nov. 13, although the Shackelford County Courthouse will not be open until Monday, Nov. 15 for candidates to obtain the required paperwork.
Several county-wide offices and two precinct commissioners are up for election in 2022, with the deadline for candidates to file set on Monday, Dec. 13. Posts to be elected include county judge, county and district clerk, county treasurer, justice of the peace (county-wide position), and commissioners for Precincts 2 and 4.
Candidates wishing to file for a place on the Republican primary ballot will contact Rodney Casey this year, since longtime Republican chair Lynne Teinert has announced her intention not to seek the post.
Casey, who himself will have to file to be officially elected as the county chairman, plans to assist Republican candidates. He can be contacted at 325-370-2468.
According to county and district clerk Cheri Hawkins, there is no longer a local Democratic chair, but she can help prospective Democratic candidates contact the Austin office for information.
Hawkins also has copies of petitions that can be filed in lieu of the filing fee for local elections.
The fee for the JP office is $350, while the rest of the offices have a $750 filing fee. A candidate can submit a petition with a minimum of 50 eligible voters instead of posting the fee.
County judge Robert Skelton, who was first elected in 2018, has already announced that he does not plan to seek a second term. Incumbents Cheri Hawkins – county and district clerk, Tammy Brown – county treasurer, James Breeden – justice of the peace,
Ace Reames – commissioner for precinct 2, and Cody Jordan – commissioner for precinct 4 have all indicated they plan to file for re-election.
Application Process
The first step in applying to run as a primary candidate is to designate a campaign treasurer, according to Hawkins.
“The designated treasurer can be anyone, even the candidate,” she said. “Then the candidate can either pay the filing fee, which goes to the state party, or pick up a petition and obtain signatures of at least 50 registered county voters.”
Completed paperwork then is turned into the party chairman, which will be Casey for the Republican Party.
Democratic candidates would need to check with Hawkins in the clerk’s office at 325-762-9415 or contact the Texas Democratic Party at 512-478-9800 to determine the procedure to file since there isn’t a local Democratic party chairman.
Persons interested in running as an independent or another party, such as Libertarian, would have to contact Hawkins for assistance.
The actual filing process must be done with the county chairman of their party, not in the clerk’s office.
Persons interested in filing for the position of party chair for either of the two major parties must also file before the deadline, but there is no filing fee for that position.
