Vargas wins re-election, 717 to 553

Donley County voters re-elected County Clerk Fay Vargas during last week’s General Election, keeping the county’s only Democratic office holder by a margin of 717 to 553 over her Republican challenger Bobby Woodard.

Early voting was very high with 801 people casting ballots before election day. That’s the highest early turnout since 2013 when more than 700 people voted early on the alcohol question.

Vargas was the favorite of early voters, with 458 votes to Woodard’s 332. On election day, she was the leading choice in three of six balloting boxes, and it was Precincts 2 and 4 that propelled her to victory.

Box 101 voters at the Bairfield Activity Center voted for Vargas 25-12, Box 102 voters in Howardwick preferred Woodard 51-26, and Box 201 voters at the Courthouse were for Vargas 81-45. Voters at Box 301 at the Assembly of God were almost evenly split, choosing Woodard, 20-19. Box 303 voters in Hedley also favored Woodard, 56-37; but Vargas showed strength at Box 401 at the Family Life Center where voters chose her, 71-37.

A total of 1,293 people voted in Donley County in the 2018 election, a turnout of 57.8 percent.

Local voters selected Republicans for every other office on the ballot by wide margins. Clarendon’s Mac Thornberry, for example, received 1,134 votes in his Congressional re-election bid compared to 113 for Democrat Greg Sagan and 27 for Libertarian Calvin DeWeese.

Other local officials were re-elected without opposition County Judge John Howard (1,156), County Treasurer Wanda Smith (1,158), Precinct 2 Commissioner Daniel Ford (372), Precinct 4 Commissioner Dan Sawyer (220), and Precinct 1&2 Justice of the Peace Pamela Mason (676). Pat White also received 476 votes for Precinct 3&4 Justice of the Peace after defeating incumbent Denise Bertrand in the Republican Primary earlier this year.