The contest for the 354th District Court judgeship appeared late Tuesday night to be headed to a Republican Party primary runoff election in May.
Although the vote totals from Rains County were not available at the Herald-Banner's press time, Keli Aiken and Craig Black were the top two vote-getters in Hunt County in what was a close race. As neither candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote, Aiken and Black would meet in a May 24 runoff election.
Unofficial final vote totals show Aiken receiving 4,551 votes (37.64 percent) in Hunt County to Black’s 3,434 votes (28.4 percent).
Close behind was Katherine Ferguson, with 3,120 votes (25.8 percent), with Shawn Council finishing with 986 votes (8.15 percent) in Hunt County.
The race was to determine who would fill the seat being vacated by current 354th District Court Judge Richard Beacom, who is retiring at the end of this year.
The winner of the GOP primary runoff would be the next judge, as they would face no opposition in November.
Early voting for the runoff is scheduled May 16-20.