The Republican nominee, Parker took the office with 6,422 ballots — accounting for 67.74 percent of the vote — while Democratic opponent Pat Carter pulled in 3,058 ballots, or 32.26 percent of the ballots cast in the contest.

When asked if the final vote tallies surprised him, Parker seemed awestruck.

“You know, everything is kind of a surprise,” said Parker with a smile. “I don't know how to predict these. It's like I told everyone, that I was looking for 50 percent, plus one vote. That's all I was after. I'm happy with the numbers, and I'm proud of that. We got out and worked hard on this election, and I'm very happy with it.”

Parker said campaigning was tough on him and his family, but the end-result made it all worth while.

“It was tough. We've been doing this for more than a year now,” said Parker. “I made the decision to run in January of 2007. It was really a lot of work — a lot more than I thought it would be — but it really paid off in the end. I had a lot of financial support and the support of my family. My mom and dad got out and worked hard, my wife and kids worked hard and a lot of friends got out there and helped, and I can't thank them enough. Everyone who helped in this campaign, I just can't thank them enough. It means a lot.”

When asked what his plans were for the office, Parker said he expects to get the ball rolling soon.

“We're working on it. I have some things in mind — I don't have anything official yet — but we're working on that,” said Parker. “I'll start finalizing some things in the next few weeks and we'll just go from there.”

According to Carter, the deciding factor in the sheriff's race wasn't necessarily politics or platforms.

“It was a lot of work. It was fun, however, and there were some good parts to it,” said Carter. “I had some great people behind me. There wasn't a lot of money, but there was moral support. You have to spend a bunch of money to win this race.

“I hate to say the politicians are bought, but if you don't have the money, you aren't going to win. And I didn't have it. I'm disappointed, but it all comes back to the money. When you spend three times as much and only win by double the amount of votes, it's just numbers. It doesn't mean much.”

In a much closer race, Republican nominee Joshua Hamby unseated long-time County Attorney Mike Thomas, taking 5,036 ballots (53.27 percent) to the incumbent's 4,418 votes (46.73 percent).

“I believe we got our message out about what we wanted to do, and the voters felt we needed a change here in Howard County,” said Hamby. “I just feel like they went to the polls with that in mind.”

Hamby said he was thankful to see the candidates in the Howard County contests run clean races.

“It was tough. Fortunately, in my race and all the other races I saw, everyone kept a good clean campaign,” said Hamby. “I was very happy with that. There wasn't any mud slinging. The campaigns were based on what their visions and qualifications were, so i feel like it was a good campaign.”

Hamby said his plans for the county attorney's office are simple.

“Like I said during my campaign, we have to get something done about crime, and that's going to be my focus. I'm going to help law enforcement and get together with them so we can do something about the crime in our town,” said Hamby

In the race for the Precinct 1 seat on the Commissioners Court, Democratic incumbent Emma Brown held on to her office with 730 ballots (53.09 percent) against Republican challenger Edwin Ware, who garnered 645 votes (46.91 percent).

Republican nominee Jimmie Long won the Precinct 3 seat on the Commissioners Court, receiving 1,222 votes (55.05 percent) to Democratic opponent Dick Dubose's 998 ballots (44.95 percent). Incumbent Bill Crooker opted not to run for re-election.

A Republican also took the race for County Constable Precinct 1 Place 1, as challenger Kneel Stallings took the nod from voters with 4,635 ballots (65.73 percent) against Democratic incumbent Bill Holden's 2,417 votes (34.27 percent).

Howard County District Attorney Hardy Wilkerson, County Tax Assessor-Collector Kathy Sayles and Justice of the Peace Bennie Green — all of whom ran unopposed — were also re-elected during Tuesday's balloting.

Contact Staff Writer Thomas Jenkins at 263-7331 ext. 232 or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it