Bryson elects new school board member

Bryson elects new school board member Brian Smith Wed, 05/08/2024 - 7:22 am Three Bryson ISD board positions were up for grabs in the Saturday, May 4 general election. Shelby Leatherwood won Place 3, filling the unexpired term vacated by T-Bob Hauger who resigned to run for Jack County Sheriff. Leatherwood picked up 116 votes, or 55.5%. Runner- up Brandi Bennett received 51 votes, or 24.4%. The other four candidates who ran for the position picked up between 2% and 6% of the vote. Incumbent Sheila Birdwell retained her Place 6 seat with 185 votes, or 88.94%, over Anthony Herpeche, who received 23 votes, or 11.06%. Interim Board President Travis Thorne ran unopposed for Place 7 and received 189 votes. Leatherwood will finish out Hauger’s term and can run again once the term expires. Graford ISD’s bond issue passed. All five Jack County voters voted in favor of the issue, with the overall vote being 357 for and 237 against the issue. Nearly $60 million in bonds will be used for a new secondary school campus, renovation of the agriculture building and new activity buses. Just over 21% of Jack County’s 1,019 registered voters cast their votes on the short ballot. The next election will be the runoff election between Jack County Sheriff candidates RC Langford and Hauger. Also on the republican primary runoff ballot will be District 30 Senator candidates Jace Yarbrough and Brent Hagenbuch. The democratic primary runoff for the same seat will be between Michael Braxton and Dale Frey. More information will be available in next week’s edition.