Howard defeats Bond

 Dr. John Howard is set to be the next judge of Donley County following Tuesday’s Republican runoff election.

Howard received 58.9 percent of the vote over Donley County Chief Deputy Randy Bond. The final tally was 412 for Howard and 288 for Bond.

The candidates survived a four-man primary election on March 4, which also featured Jack Craft and Gary Campbell. More than 900 people voted in that election, which was forced resulted in a runoff after no candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote.

An even 700 people cast ballots in the Republican runoff, but interestingly Howard and Bond both improved their March vote totals by nearly equal numbers. Howard received 59 more votes than he did in March. Bond’s total went up by 58 from the last election.

Early voting totals closely predicted the final margin of victory with Howard securing 62.7 percent of early ballots, 235-140.

With no Democratic opponent for November’s General Election, Howard is set to succeed County Judge Jack Hall, who is retiring at the end of his current term after more than 17 years in office.

Howard currently serves as the chairman of the Clarendon College Board of Regents, and he will have to resign that position sometime before his term as judge begins in January.