Early voting through Feb. 27 for 2026 general primary elections

CHEROKEE COUNTY – Early voting for the 2026 general primary elections – which kicked off Tuesday – continues through Feb. 27, with registered voters able to cast ballots at any of the three early voting locations across the county.

They include the Cherokee County Election Department, at 138 W. 5th St. in Rusk; Jacksonville Public Library at 526 E. Commerce St., Jacksonville; and The River Church, 595 Marcus St. in Alto. 

During the first week of early voting, polls are open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Friday, Feb. 20; and 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21. The second week of early voting, folks can cast ballots from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 22; or between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 23 through Friday, Feb. 27. Meanwhile, the deadline for mail-in ballot applications is Friday, Feb. 20 – to learn more, visit www.votetexas.gov or call the Cherokee County Election Department, 903-683-8409.

Below are races impacting Cherokee County voters:

• Cherokee County Judge – Chris Davis, Republican incumbent

• County Court at Law Judge – Janice Crosby Stone, Republican incumbent

• District Clerk – Alison Parrott Dotson, Republican incumbent

• Cherokee County Clerk – Laverne Lusk, Republican incumbent

• Cherokee County Treasurer – Erin Thrash Curtis, Republican incumbent

• Cheroke County Surveyor – Greg Rayburn McCown

• Cherokee County Precinct 2 Commissioner – Republican candidates Steven Norton (incumbent) and Jay Carlton Jones

• Cherokee County Precinct 4 Commissioner – Republican candidate Billy M. McCutcheon (incumbent)

• Cherokee County Precinct 1 Justice of the Peace – Republican candidates Abby Santos, JC Bonet, Gregg Loden and Kim West

• Cherokee County Precinct 2 Justice of the Peace – Republican candidate Amber Lusk Hood (incumbent)

• Cherokee County Precinct 3 Justice of the Peace – Republican candidate Phillip Grimes (incumbent)

• Cherokee County Precinct 4 Justice of the Peace – Republican candidate Rodney Wallace (incumbent)

• Cherokee County Party Chairs – Republican candidates Janet Stanovich (incumbent) and Karen A. Morris; Democratic candidate Janice Thacker

• Precinct 15 Chair – Republican candidates Mike Smith and Sheila Gene Dennis

• Precinct 22 Chair – Republican candidates Alan Higginbotham and Darvin Collins

• Precinct 35 Chair – Republican candidates Donald Reagan and John Earle

• Precinct 36 Chair – Republican candidates Linda Fuglestad, Michele H. Slaton and Leslie Hobgood

This year’s ballot also includes the state-level and district-level races for:

• State Senate (District 3) – Republican candidates Rhonda Ward and Trent Ashby

• State Representative (District 8) – Republican candidates Cody Harris (incumbent) and Daniel Hunt

• District Judge, 369th Judicial District – Republican candidate Jonathan Richey (appointed late 2025)

In addition to these, this year’s primary ballots include propositions by each party:

• Democratic Proposition 1 – Survey: Texas should expand Medicaid and ensure access to affordable healthcare for all

• Democratic Proposition 2 – Survey: Texans should support humane and dignified immigration policies and pathways to citizenship

• Democratic Proposition 3 – Survey: Texans should have the right to make their own healthcare decisions, including reproductive rights

• Democratic Proposition 4 – Survey: Texas should address the state’s housing crisis in affordability and access in both urban and rural communities

• Democratic Proposition 5 – Survey: Texas should fund all public schools at the same per-pupil rate as the national average

• Democratic Proposition 6 – Survey: Secure online voter registration should be accessible to all eligible Texas residents

• Democratic Proposition 7 – Survey: Texas should have a clean and healthy environment that includes water, air and biodiversity. Texas must preserve the states natural, cultural, scenic and recreational resources

• Democratic Proposition 8 – Survey: Texas should legalize cannabis for adults and automatically expunge criminal records for past low-level cannabis offenses

• Democratic Proposition 9 – Survey: Texas should raise salaries to at least the national average and should provide cost-of-living increase based on the national Consumer Price Index every two years to current/retired school and state employees

• Democratic Proposition 10 – Survey: Texas should ban racially motivated redistricting, ban mid-decade redistricting and create a non-partisan redistricting board to redraw lines every 10 years

• Democratic Proposition 11 – Survey: The Working Class should be eligible for greater federal income tax relief and have their tax burden fairly shifted onto the wealthier

• Democratic Proposition 12 – Survey: Texas should expand accessible public transportation opportunities in rural and urban communities so residents can get to their workplaces, schools and healthcare

• Democratic Proposition 13 – Survey: Texas should prevent individuals with a history of domestic abuse from purchasing firearms by implementing ‘red flag’ laws

• Republican Proposition 1 – Texas property taxes should be assessed at the purchase price and phased out entirely over the next six years through spending reductions

• Republican Proposition 2 – Texas should require any local government budget that raises property taxes to be approved by voters at a November general election

• Republican Proposition 3 – Texas should prohibit denial of healthcare or any medical service based solely on the patient’s vaccination status

• Republican Proposition 4 – Texas should require its public schools to teach that life begins at fertilization

• Republican Proposition 5 – Texas should ban gender, sexuality and reproductive clinics and services in K-12 schools

• Republican Proposition 6 – Texas should enact term limits on all elected officials 

• Republican Proposition 7 – Texas should ban the large-scale export or sale of our groundwater and surface water to any single private or public entity

• Republican Proposition 8 – The Texas Legislature should reduce the burden of illegal immigration on taxpayers by ending public services for illegal aliens

• Republican Proposition 9 – The Republican-controlled Texas Legislature should stop awarding leadership positions, including committee and subcommittee chairmanships and vice chairmanships, to Democrats

• Republican Proposition 10 – Texas should prohibit Sharia Law