May 28, 2024 – The Republican Runoff Election was held Tuesday, May 28, 2024 to determine places for two precinct commissioner spots in Hopkins County. No clear winners emerged during the Republican Primary earlier in the year, so a runoff for both spots were needed. Contenders for Precinct 1 included Wesley Miller and incumbent Mickey Barker. Two new commisioner hopefuls for Precinct 3, Travis Thompson and William (Bill) Holden faced off as Incumbent Wade Bartley decided not to run for reelection. Early Voting turnout was light as 458 votes were cast in the abbreviated early voting time period for Precinct 1, and 328 early votes for Precinct 3. Miller dominated Barker in early voting with 316 votes to Barker’s 142. Precinct 3 early voting was a lot closer as Thompson edged out Holden by a narrow margin of 171 to 157.
Voting Day did not overturn the precedent set by early voting as incumbent Mickey Barker was defeated by challenger Wesley Miller. Miller, who will not have a Democratic challenger in November, is the presumptive commissioner for Precinct 1 come January 2025. Bill Holden, who narrowly missed clenching the earlier election was defeated by Travis Thompson for Bartley’s seat for Precinct 3. Thompson also will not have a Democratic challenger in November and will be the new commisioner for Precinct 3 being sworn in January 2025.
Election day voter turnout was weak as well with 335 votes cast for Precinct 1 candidates and 382 votes for Precinct 3 candidates. Final tallies for the two races saw Wesley Miller defeating incumbent Mickey Barker with a vote count of 543 to 250 or a margin of 68.47% to 31.53%. Over in Precinct 3, Thompson earned 428 votes to Holden’s 282 votes or a margin of 60.28% to 39.72%.
