Primary Election Summary: Here’s who won, who has a runoff, and who will face off in November

The 2024 Primary Election has come and gone, but we have some unanswered questions for candidates, issues, millages, and the November General Election. See below for the following topics.

1. What’s a Primary anyway?
2. Which candidates won their race?
3. Who will compete in the Primary Runoff Election?
4. What’s the deal with millages on the ballot?
5. When are we going to vote on the issues?

KEEP READING BELOW ?

1 . What is a Primary Election? Why do we have to vote twice?

The Primary is held mostly so we can narrow each race to one candidate per party. One it’s narrowed, the top candidates in each party will face off in the General Election in November. Here are some examples of how it works:

• If there are 3 Republican candidates and 1 Democratic candidate in a race, the R’s need to decide who is their choice to compete against the D candidate in November.
• If there is already only 1 candidate of a certain party in any race, that candidate is considered unopposed for the Primary Election and automatically advanced to the November General Election.

Think of the Primary & General Elections as basketball tournament brackets. Those candidates who don’t have an opponent of the same political party will get a “bye” in the semi-finals (Primary) and head straight to the championship (General). Meanwhile, other teams (Candidates) have to battle it out in the bracket to get to the next level.

2. Which candidates won their race? (And who still faces an opponent in November?)

We’ll soon list all the November General Election candidate and issue races. Find the list at this link.

The following are the candidates who received more than 50% of the vote in their race:

R – US President – Donald J. Trump

D – US President – Joseph R. Biden

R – State Representative Dist 83 – Paul Childress

R – Justice of the Peace Dist 2 – Everette Hatcher

R – Justice of the Peace Dist 3 – Carlton Billingsley

R – Justice of the Peace Dist 5 – Justin Rue

R – Justice of the Peace Dist 8 – Edward Albares

R – Justice of the Peace Dist 9 – CJ Engel

R – Justice of the Peace Dist 12 – Stephanie Johnson

NP – City of Bryant Mayor – Chris Treat

NP – State Supreme Court Associate Justice Pos 2 – Courtney Hudson 

3. Who will compete in the Primary Runoff Election?

There were no tie races, but many times when there is more than two candidates in a race, it ends up in a runoff. In order to win the race, the candidate must get 50% of the vote, and one additional vote. Each of the races listed below will participate in a runoff election. 

These County Level races will runoff on Apr 2nd, 2024. (Early voting Mar 26-Apr 1, 2024)

R – Justice of the Peace Dist 4

• • Barbara Howell
  • Keith Kellum

R – Constable Township 1

• • Tim Bragg
  • Clint Newcomb

These State Level Judicial races will runoff on Nov 5th, 2024. (Early voting dates TBA).

NP – State Supreme Court Chief Justice Pos 1

• • Karen Baker
  • Rhonda Wood

NP – Court of Appeals Associate Judge Dist 6, Pos 1

• • Molly McNulty
  • Casey Tucker

Find when and where to vote in the Primary Election Runoff at www.mysaline.com/2024-elections-primary-runoff

4. What’s the deal with millages on the ballot?

You may have noticed that there were several school millages on the ballot, yet there was no mention of a millage increase for those school district. Both conditions can exist simultaneously. We explain the millages at this link.

5. When are we going to vote on the issues?

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Return to the main page for 2024 Elections at www.mysaline.com/2024-elections