As the new year begins, so do the political campaigns.

Candidates for Governor to County Chairs will be asking for our votes as the Primary nears.

As well as county, state and federal elections, there are also the local city council elections.

While those facing off in the primaries in March have already filed, those seeking city council positions will begin filing on Jan. 17, 2018.

As candidates will reach out to voters, citizens also need to reach out to the Orange County Election Board and register to vote. Voting is one way to have your voice heard.

As a service to the community, we will publish letters of introduction from the candidates to run on the Opinion page as submitted. This allows voters an opportunity to learn more about each candidate so citizens can make an informed decision when they are at the polls.

Letters should be approximately 550 words and the candidate will need to submit a photo and the article in a Word document format to dawn.burleigh@orangeleader.com

Primary Election is March 6, 2018.

The candidates for the Primaries are:

U.S. Senator

Geraldine Sam (R)

Beto O’Rouke (D)

Mary Miller (R)

Edward Kimbrough (D)

Ted Cruz (R)*

Sema Hernandez (D)

Bruce Jacobson, Jr. (R)

U.S. Representative District 36

Brian Babin (R) *

Dayna Steele (D)

Jon Powell (D)

Governor

Adrian Ocegueda (D)

Grady Yarbrough (D)

Greg Abbott (R)*

SECEDE Kilgore (R)

Tom Wakely (D)

Joe Mumbach (D)

Cedric Davis, Sr. (D)

Jeffrey Payne (D)

Andrew White (D)

James Jolly Clark (D)

Lupe Valdez (D)

Demetria Smith (D)

Lieutenant Governor

Dan Patrick (R) *

Michael Cooper (D)

Mike Collier (D)

Scott Milder (R)

Attorney General

Justin Nelson (D)

Ken Paxton (R)*

Comptroller of Public Accounts

Glenn Hegar (R) *

Tim Mahoney (D)

Joi Chevalier (D)

Commissioner of the General Land Office

George P. Bush (R)*

Rick Range (R)

Davey Edwards (R)

Miguel Suazo (D)

Tex Morgan (D)

Jerry Patterson (R)

Commissioner of Agriculture

Kim Olson (D)

Sid Miller (R)*

Trey Blocker (R)

Railroad Commissioner

Christi Craddick (R)*

Roman McAllen (D)

Chris Spellmon (D)

Justice, Supreme Court, Place 2

Steven Kirkland (D)

Justice, Supreme Court, Place 4

R.K. Sandill (D)

John Devine (R)

Justice, Supreme Court, Place 6

Kathy Cheng (D)

Jeff Brown (R)

Presiding Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals

Maria T. (Terri) Jackson (D)*

Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals Place 7

Ramona Franklin (D)

Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals Place 8

Dib Waldrip (R)*

Michelle Slaughter (R)

Member, State Board of Education, District 7

Elizabeth “Eliz” Markowitz (D)

Matt Robinson (R)

State Senator, District 3

Robert Nichols (R)*

Shirley Layton (D)

State Representative District 21

Dade Phelan (R)*

 Justice, 9th Court of Appeals District, Place 3

Leanne Johnson (R)*

Justice, 9th Court of Appeals District, Place 4

Hollis Horton (R)*

260^th Court Judge

Steven Parkhurst (R)

County Judge

Stephen Brint Carlton (R)*

Kenneth Luce (R)

Dean T. Crooks (R)

Donald Brown (D)

Judge, County Court-at-Law

Mandy White-Rogers (R)*

District Clerk

Vickie Edgerly (R)*

County Clerk

Brandy Robertson (R)*

County Treasurer

Christy Khoury (R)*

David W. Smith (R)
County Commissioner Pct. 2
Barry M. Burton (R)*

Theresa Beauchamp (R)

Deborah Mitchell (D)

County Commissioner Pct. 4

Robert Viator (R)

Jody Crump (R)*
Justice of the Peace Pct. 1

Hershel Stagner, Jr (R)*

Gail Barnett (D)

Justice of the Peace Pct. 2

Chad Jenkins (R)

Justice of the Peace Pct. 3

Joy Dubose-Simonton (R)*

Justice of the Peace Pct. 4
Rodney Price (R)*

Orange County Democratic Chair

Marcus Wilkerson (D)

Louis Ackerman (D)

 

Orange County Republican Chair

David Covey (R)

 

*Incumbent

 

Dawn Burleigh is editor of The Orange Leader. She can be reached at dawn.burleigh@orangeleader.com