Wood County Republican Party
Elections: This spring, Republican voters picked their nominees in the Republican primary and the Republican runoff, to be our champions who will go up against a Democrat this November. The March 3rd primary election is now certified — you can see preliminary statewide primary-results as well as Wood county primary-results. More recently, the May 26th runoff election is also now finished (certification and canvassing to be completed in the next few weeks); you can see preliminary statewide runoff-results as well as Wood county runoff-results. The winning candidates matched our local Republican club endorsement-lists and club straw-poll results.
Republican State Convention announcement: in-person temporary-committee meetings begin June 8th at 11am and the full body convenes June 11th at 9am thru adjournment late afternoon of June 13th (immediately followed by the newly-elected SREC meeting), at the G.R.B. Convention Center in Houston. Wood County elected our delegates and alternates at the County Convention on March 28th, who will be voting and testifying — guests are also welcome to attend, guest-badges are $100 — the proceedings will be livestreamed at Youtube.com/@TexasGop including various pre-meeting-discussions of some of the temp-committees. Known candidates as of 5/27 are Jim O’Bier + Mark Williams for SREC SD1 man, Susan Conway for SREC SD1 woman, Abraham George teamed with Amanda Hopper for RPT chair/vice-chair, D’rinda Randall teamed with David Covey for RPT chair/vice-chair, Brooks McKenzie for RPT chair (also running for vice-chair which the statewide rules do allow), Sandra Whitten for RPT chair, Bill Eastland for RPT chair, and perhaps others. The current rules require the RPT chair (who is also a member of the Republican National Committee) to differ in gender from the RPT vice-chair. The overview-schedule is listed at Convention.TexasGOP.org,
Upcoming events:
Our country’s 250th anniversary celebration is ongoing, see Whitehouse.gov/Freedom250 for some background and interesting videos. Highlights will be July 4th, and Constitution Week in September.
In addition to voting in the November 3rd 2026 election, for our Republican candidates up and down the ballot, we urge you to get more involved. Running for office costs money, and so does getting the conservative message out. Candidates and PACs need donations to push for OUR beliefs in the public square, and to push back against the Dems. There are campaign-limits for federal *candidates*, but not for Texas candidates, and not really for federal PACs, either. Democrats have a LOT of out-of-state money pouring into Texas from places like the quality ‘learing’ centers in Minnesota, and our candidates need the firepower to fight back.
More important than money, however, is time: candidates need volunteers, people to help them knock on doors, people to help them make phone calls, even the old-fashioned stuff like helping to write letters and stuff envelopes. Candidates need your help to get the message out online: x.com, facebook.com, nextdoor.com, even your encrypted signal.org chats … help the good candidates via word-of-mouth. Candidates need you to put up their yardsigns — on your fence, in your grass, outside your business, and during the voting-schedule outside the polling-locations (must be 100′ away from the entrance… NOT in the right-of-way of the road either… look for the distance-marker to be sure you are far enough out). Candidates also need poll-watchers, see these helpful 2026 election-links for details.
We have several local Republican clubs, and local precinct-chairs, which can help you get involved. Let us know if you have thoughts about the straw-poll effort (the future ones during the runoff or the prior ones during the primary), or if you have any other awesome ideas to help keep America great!
Republican nominees:
Our congratulations and our thanks to the victorious Republicans in contested runoff-races for statewide office, who will be the Republican party champions on the November general election ballot:
| Position Sought | Republican Nominee |
| U.S. Senator | Ken Paxton |
| Texas Attorney General | Mayes Middleton |
| Railroad Commissioner | Bo French (pending canvass) |
| Ct. Crim App. #3 | Thomas Smith |
Our congratulations and our thanks to the Republicans in contested races that avoided the need for a runoff by garnering greater than 50% during the primary, and thus will be the Republican party champions on the November general election ballot:
| Position Sought | Republican Nominee |
| U.S. Rep CD-32 | Jace Yarbrough (opponent withdrew) |
| Governor | Greg Abbott |
| Lt. Governor | Dan Patrick |
| Comptroller | Don Huffines |
| Agri. Commissioner | Nate Sheets |
| Ct. Crim. App. #9 | John Messinger |
| St. Brd. of Edu. #9 | Kason Huddleston |
| St. Rep. HD 5 | Cole Hefner |
| Crim. Distr. Attorney | Angela Albers |
| Cty. Treasurer | Matthew Prather |
| Cty. Commissioner #4 | Russell Acker |
| J. P. #2 | Janae Holland |
| J. P. #3 | Jerry E. Parker (canvass confirmed) |
| Constable #2 (unexp.) | Jeremy Ragsdale (canvass confirmed) |
Last but not least, our congratulations and our thanks to the unopposed nominees-elect during the March 3rd primary, who will be the Republican party champions on the November general election ballot:
| Position Sought | Republican Nominee |
| Land Commissioner | Dawn Buckingham |
| Supreme Ct #1 | Jimmy Blacklock (opponent disqualified) |
| Supreme Ct #2 | James P. Sullivan |
| Supreme Ct #7 | Kyle Hawkins |
| Supreme Ct #8 | Brett Busby (opponent disqualified) |
| Ct. Crim App. #4 | Kevin Patrick Yeary |
| State Senator, SD 1 | Bryan Hughes |
| 15th Ct. App. #1 | Scott Brister |
| 15th Ct. App. #2 | Scott K. Field |
| 15th Ct. App. #3 | April Farris |
| 12th Ct. App. #1 | Brian Hoyle |
| 6th Ct. App. #3 | Charles Van Cleef |
| 12th Ct. App. #3 | Michael Davis |
| County Judge | Kevin White |
| District Clerk | Suzy Richards Wright |
| County Clerk | Kelley Robinson Price |
| Cty Commish #2 | Jerry Gaskill |
| J.P. #1 | Tony Gilbreath |
| J.P. #4 | Jody Paul Hettich |
Why should you vote in the upcoming March 7, 2028 primary? (Early voting begins Feb.22nd)
You should vote in a primary election because it’s your shot to pick the candidates who’ll represent your views in the general election—before the options get locked in. Primaries decide who carries your party’s flag, and since turnout’s usually low (often 20% or less of registered voters), your vote packs a bigger punch than in November 2028. Skipping the primary election will hand that choice of a Republican champion to a smaller, sometimes more extreme slice of the electorate—like how Trump snagged the 2016 GOP nod with just 14 million primary votes out of 62 million total voters in the general.
It’s also where real ideological battles happen. If you care about steering your party, whether toward pragmatism, principle, or something else, primaries are your leverage. Plus, in places like our Texas House District 5, where the general election is a Republican lock, the primary is the real contest. Our current representative’s 2024 primary win over two challengers basically sealed his seat. Also note that the 2028 Republican primary will be an open seat for the Republican presidential nominee, unless the Constitution is amended to permit President Trump to run for a third term, making it especially crucial.
Not voting in the primary? You’re sitting out the whole game.
Thank you for being an informed voter, and thank you for being a Republican!
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