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The political landscape in Abilene could take several twists and turns in upcoming primary and city elections, in what likely for voters will be a tumultuous year that brings a key presidential election.
Or it could come out looking pretty familiar, an Abilene political science professor said.
“We could end up with the status quo when elections are done by late next spring or we could be into a whole new era here in Abilene,” said McMurry University professor Paul Fabrizio, who carefully studies both national and local politics.
“Politics at the national level is pretty volatile,” Fabrizio said. “We will soon see if that is what is happening here, too.”
Setting the stage
Elections are coming March 3 for Democratic and Republican primaries, while city elections are May 2.
At stake are numerous positions, some held for years by current occupants.
The primary on the Republican side has several slots up for consideration, including contested races for county commissioner and a three-way sheriff’s race.
In the city, there will be a race for mayor and two city council seats.
In addition, four Abilene Independent School District board seats are up for election, while two are open for the Wylie ISD.
“If you think about the last decade in politics here, think about the situation with Heath Burns at AISD, the candidacies of Bruce Kreitler and Steve Savage for the Abilene City Council, and the criminal charge against Brad Birchum, you would think that the area deserves a little boring politics,” Fabrizio said. “But that is not the case.”
Burns, the AISD’s superintendent, resigned the Abilene Independent School District in February 2015 amid multiple scandals involving his employees.
Kreitler and Savage challenged the status quo in the Abilene council, bringing outside voices into the council in a way some found refreshing, others contentious.
Birchum, among those whose seats are up on the Taylor County Commissioners Court, in June 2017 pleaded guilty to a public lewdness charge in exchange for dropping an official oppression charge, according to Reporter-News archives.
He was accused of groping a female deputy earlier that year at a volunteer firefighting fundraising event.
Examining the field
While filing for city elections doesn’t start until Jan. 15, the primary election field is fairly set.
One of the more significant races is in the 104th District Court.
Longtime Judge Lee Hamilton announced he will not seek re-election.
Including 10 years as Taylor County judge and two years as Abilene Municipal Court judge, Hamilton has been on the bench for 30 years, according to an August 2019 Reporter-News story.
Three challengers have emerged seeking his seat — Blake Norvell, Jeff Propst and Kevin Willhelm.
The 104th Court is a trial court of general jurisdiction in Texas.
District courts have original jurisdiction in felony criminal cases, family law cases, cases involving title to land, election contest cases, civil matters in which the amount of money or damages involved is $200 or more, and any matters in which jurisdiction is not placed in another trial court.
Willhelm is an Abilene attorney who lost a 2016 election for Taylor County Court-at-Law No. 2.
In his announcement, he called Hamilton “a mentor,” while in a video on his campaign’s Facebook page said he wants to represent not just clients but “the community at large.”
Attorney Propst announced his bid in September, saying he was “called to public service,” listing the qualities of a good judge as impartiality, common sense and “knowing the law.”
Norvell said he brings a variety of experience to bear, spending considerable time on civil matters, including entertainment law.
In announcing his campaign, He said it is vital that judges know how to apply the law while also contributing to legal scholarship.
County positions open
County Commissioner Randy Williams in Precinct 1 faces opposition in his race from Miles P. Owen, while incumbent Precinct 3’s Birchum faces competition from challenger Jeff Dressen.
Both incumbents say there’s plenty of work to do in the county that they want to see through, while their challengers say they bring new ideas — and new eyes — to the table.
Sheriff Ricky Bishop faces his own battle from former sheriff Les Bruce.
Jeff Stanton, a third candidate, currently works for the department as a deputy, and has worked for both men.
Bruce was defeated by Bishop in a Republican primary runoff in late July 2012.
When they squared off previously, Bruce, when challenged along with other candidates, waited to take a requested drug test until much later in the race.
He defended his earlier refusal to take a test under what he termed improper conditions, but said he yielded after hearing from family members whose friends wondered why he wouldn’t take a test if he knew he would pass.
In another contested county race, Shawna Joiner has filed to run against incumbent Justice of the Peace, Precinct 1, Place 1 Mike McAuliffe.
Joiner, a certified master clerk and chief clerk for Precinct 1, Place 2, has worked in that office for five years, and said that she has, after working with judges and clerks throughout the state, “realized that there are a lot of things that we could be doing differently to better the people of Abilene and our constituents.”
McAuliffe, a retired Abilene police officer, served in 2012 as an appointed official after the retirement of Justice of the Peace Bryan Smith.
He was elected to the position in 2012, following a runoff against candidate Lydia Long, earning 60 percent of the vote.
He views his position as an opportunity to serve “all the citizens of Taylor County,” he said recently.
Democrats step up
On the Democratic primary ticket, of prime interest is that Samuel Hatton has registered to run against two-term Texas Rep. Stan Lambert in District 71, revisiting a contest he lost in 2018.
Hatton said in a recent email that he learned a “lot about West Texas” in that contest, most important that “people have given up” on both political parties, who “couldn’t care less about working class people.”
A contested race between Elizabeth Smyser and David Turvaville for Democratic party chairperson is of further local interest.
“(That) contest says that the local party is like the national party, searching for a direction, policies, and tactics to go in an area where Democrats are a minority,” Fabrizio said.
Sheriff race one to watch
The sheriff’s race was of particular interest to Fabrizio.
“After the tumult of the last several years here I thought that we may be heading into a period of political quiet,” Fabrizio said. “Then the sheriff’s race came along to prove me wrong.”
The sheriff’s race “indicates that there are still unresolved issues at the county level, whether it be pay, training, staffing or something else,” he said.
Bruce said earlier this month his incentive to reclaim his old position is to bring better management and training to the department, reflective of current and future needs in the county.
Bishop said has brought “more proactivity” to the sheriff’s office and had been successful in keeping the crime rate at a manageable level in the county, even with an increase in population in recent years, and in raising salaries for deputies and jailers.
Stanton, who works in the department’s warrants and narcotics division, said previously he has worked with both men and has nothing “bad to say about either one,” believing he simply brings “better ideas” to the forefront, including a focus on training and stopping the flow of illegal drugs.
City races shaping up soon
Councilman Weldon Hurt recently cemented his desire to run again for Place 4, which he won unopposed in 2017. He is the first to announce for the upcoming city positions.
Anthony Williams, Abilene’s first African-American mayor, has said he’ll run again, while Councilwoman Donna Albus, who represents Place 3 on the council, said recently she’s examining her options.
It remains to be seen whether the upcoming races will be as vibrant as this year’s council contests, in which Facebook comments by Place 5 Councilman Kyle McAlister generated controversy and races were generally characterized by multiple candidates of various backgrounds and experience vying for the winner’s circle.
The future and financing of a downtown hotel project was key in the last year’s race.
Fabrizio in his analysis of the 2019 elections called the re-election of McAlister and the triumph of Travis Craver, who won a five-person race with 61 percent of the vote and famously celebrated with a back-flip into a swimming pool, a win for Abilene’s “establishment.”
This year’s elections will prove how well certain recent policies, such as a fee for road maintenance, and work done as a result of and since a 2015 bond election have set with voters.
“While we still have some time before the city races are solidified, we can only wonder if there is opposition to the direction that the city has taken since … bonds were passed in the last decade,” Fabrizio said last week. “Now that street repairs are happening, is there other things that are bothering the voters?
Opponents to the members of the city council and the mayor will tell us a lot about the level of discontent in the city.”
Brian Bethel covers city and county government and general news for the Abilene Reporter-News. If you appreciate locally driven news, you can support local journalists with a digital subscription to ReporterNews.com.
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