Raburn surprises Honza in mayoral race
Mark Warde
Results from Ellis County Joint General and Special Elections revealed the choice of 8.23 percent of the 141,505 registered voters in 44 individual races, including mayoral campaigns in three cities, and a number of city council or commissioners and many for school board members.
Ennis had seven individual races, three of them with unopposed winners.
In perhaps one of the most anticipated bids for mayor in years, Kameron Raburn topped the presumptive favorite, Bill Honza, by taking just over 60 percent of the votes. He was the pick on 1,071 ballots, compared to 688 for Honza.
Raburn, 29, was the victor in early balloting with the same margin in both the early and Election Day totals. Honza had the endorsement of the two previous mayors, Russell Thomas and Angie Juenemann. A pair of write-in candidates, Jeremy French and James Davis, were a distant third and fourth.
Incumbent Rowdy Pruitt retained his City Commissioner of Ward 1 seat without a challenger, while Scott Hejny and Eric Pierce were victors in Wards 3 and 5. The latter two will fill the unexpired seats for both Raburn and Honza, who (by rule) had to resign their post to run for mayor. Hejny (Hay-nee) gathered 67 percent of the votes, defeating Trevor Wilhoite, who had 28 percent. Pierce collected 50 percent, edging Pete Setian, with 29, and Ariana Campos at 20 percent.
John Erisman and Bill Chapman, who both were unopposed, easily kept their position as a trustee on the EISD school board. Wayne Leaks was elected to serve in the Place 3 seat held for 27-years by the esteemed Walter Beasley. He gained the post with a 61 to 39 percent of the ballots over Michael Scott.
The May 12 edition of The Ennis News will publish detailed stories of the respective races, including photos and quotes. Once the votes are officially canvassed, winners will be installed in ceremonies at City Hall and the Ennis ISD Central Offices. Dates will be posted in The Ennis News.
Complete results were posted at approximately 9:25 p.m. Tabulations can be viewed at https://www.co.ellis.tx.us/1194/May-4-2024-Joint-Election
ELLIS COUNTY VOTING
Registered Voters
141,505
Early Voting Total Turnout
7,579 11,642
Percent 5.36 8.23%
Early Voters Election Day
7,137 4,062
Mayor
Early Pct. Election Day Total Pct.
Kameron K. Raburn 717 60.30% 354 1,071 60.24%
Bill Honza 458 38.52 230 688 38.70
Write-In 14 1.18 5 19 1.07
Jeremy French 10
Uncertified 9
Commissioner – Ward 1
Early Pct. Election Day Total Pct.
Rowdy Pruitt 96 100.0 46 146 100.0%
Commissioner – Ward 3 (unexpired term)
Early Pct. Election Day Total Pct.
Scott Hejny 307 65.74% 107 414 62.73%
Trevor Wilhoite 131 28.05 72 203 30.76
James Wilson 29 6.21 14 43 6.52
Commissioner – Ward 5 (unexpired term)
Early Pct. Election Day Total Pct.
Eric Pierce 157 50.97% 62 219 50.34%
Pete Setian 89 28.90 39 128 29.43
Ariana Campos 62 20.13 26 88 20.23
EISD Trustee – Place 3
Early Pct. Election Day Total Pct.
Wayne Leaks 736 60.83% 317 1,053 59.86%
Michael Scott 474 39.17 232 706 40.14
EISD Trustee – Place 4
Early Pct. Election Day Total Pct.
John Erisman 1,048 100.0% 486 1,534 100.0%
EISD Trustee – Place 5
Early Pct. Election Day Total Pct.
Bill Chapman 1,130 100.0% 503 1,633 100.0%
Absentee Ballots
443
Total Absentee Votes (already included it total votes)
Kameron Raburn 22, Bill Honza 15, Rowdy Pruitt 4, Scott Hejny 9, Trevor Wilhoite 4,
Ariana Campos 3, Pete Setian 1, Eric Pierce 1, Wayne Leaks 25, Michael Scott 14, John Erisman 34, and Bill Chapman 34.
Rejected Ballots or still pending – 14.
