Incumbents ahead in Odessa

ODESSA — Incumbents held comfortable leads over their opponents in local races for Mayor and Councilmember No. 5 after the first ballot count in the primary election Tuesday, Aug. 1.

Incumbent mayor Bill Crossley had 162 votes. Second-place Jeremy Smith had 37 votes, while Ed Hayden was third with 22 votes.

Meanwhile, incumbent councilwoman Marlene Kramer garnered 114 votes. Laura Caler had 73 votes, while Michael Igo had 33 votes.

Races are much tighter in Harrington and Sprague.

In Harrington, Gavin Wagner holds a slim lead over his two opponents with 29 votes. The margin between second and third is even slimmer, with Kelly Foreman holding 19 votes and Steven Wright 14.

In Sprague, Jeffrey Smith has 35 votes. And there is a tie for the all-important second-place finisher, with Trace De Garmo and RonDel Krauter each garnering 22 votes.

If the race remains tied after a final count, an automatic recount will occur. If there is still a tie after the recount, the race will be decided via a lot draw, Lincoln County Deputy Elections Officer Norm Caley said.

The top two vote-getters in each nonpartisan race will advance to November’s primary election.

The election isn’t over, with a count of remaining mail-in votes scheduled for 4 p.m. Friday, Aug. 4.

Caley said Tuesday that the total number of ballots remaining is impossible to predict.

“I’ve gotten Wednesday bombs before,” he said. “It could be over 100. It could be so scarce it barely makes a difference.”

Voter turnout was 22.99% as of first count, with 580 ballots counted out of 2,523 registered voters.