Opinion: Eight Winners from Tuesday's Elections

By Amarillo Pioneer Editorial Board

Note: No current elected officials had any part in the writing of this article.

On Election Day, voters pick their representatives at the ballot box. While there are winners and losers when the numbers are finalized, often times there are winners and losers in a different sense than just who got a checkmark by their name.

Here’s a look beyond the numbers to identify some people who won big on Tuesday night.

WINNER: Holly Jeffreys

Holly Jeffreys won big in her primary election for House District 86 on Tuesday night, defeating opponent Jamie Haynes by more than 30 points. Jeffreys’ win is a massive result for a first-time legislative candidate, and it’s one that definitely set her up as one of the night’s biggest winners.

WINNER: John Smithee

Speaking of Holly Jeffreys, outgoing State Rep. John Smithee flexed his political muscle in the Tuesday election by endorsing Jeffreys early in the election. While the move might have been considered risky by some, Smithee’s seal of approval obviously carried weight, as his chosen successor vastly outperformed her opponent — and his 2024 rival — on Tuesday night. If anything, Jeffreys’ win just further solidified Smithee as one of the most respected and influential voices in Panhandle governance.

WINNER: Claire Grammer

Most people expected the Randall County Court at Law No. 1 Republican primary to head to a runoff, but for a few brief moments on Tuesday night, it looked like Claire Grammer could win the race outright. While she ended up finishing the evening with 43 percent of the vote, a first-place finish of that magnitude — running 14 points ahead of her runoff foe — sets her up nicely for the runoff in May.

WINNERS: Jeff Raef and Timothy Gassaway

It’s not super common to see an incumbent county commissioner lose their primary election. So to see two of them lose in Potter County on Tuesday night was astounding. In Precinct 2, businessman Jeff Raef defeated incumbent Blair Schaffer, 51-49 percent, and in Precinct 4, Timothy Gassaway defeated incumbent Warren Coble, 55-45 percent. Both challengers managed to win the trust and backing of their voters over established incumbents and definitely emerged from Tuesday’s elections as big winners.

WINNER: Andrew Caleb Smith

In the Randall County Court at Law primary, local prosecutor Andrew Smith ran a campaign based on conservative family values and prosecutorial experience, without spending a dime on his campaign beyond the initial filing fee. While he didn’t advance to the runoff, Smith won 8 percent of the vote and finished ahead of a candidate who had spent a significant amount boosting his own campaign. The fourth-place finish wasn’t the success Smith was hoping for, but it established that voters do like him and are willing to support him over candidates with more sophisticated campaigns.

WINNER: Craig Gualtiere

Local businessman Craig Gualtiere had been beating the drum against certificates of obligation for months ahead of Tuesday night’s primary election and had been pointing the finger directly at the sitting commissioners in a series of billboards along I-40. On Tuesday night, two of Gualtiere’s nemeses — Schaffer and Coble — lost their primary elections. It will never be known just how much of an impact Gualtiere’s billboards had on the races, but he certainly came out a winner on Tuesday night, with two new faces replacing two officeholders he had been targeting for months.

WINNER: Dan Rogers

Speaking of those who have been beating the drum against the county commissioners, Potter Republican Chairman Dan Rogers likely got his wish on Tuesday night, with Schaffer and Coble sent to the showers. Rogers had called out both commissioners for allegedly not sticking to their promises related to paper ballots in Potter County. Unlike in past primaries, Rogers wasn’t an outsized presence in this year’s election, but he was still likely smiling from ear to ear when the final results came in.

WINNER: Neel and Partners

North Richland Hills consulting firm Neel and Partners is quickly becoming a formidable presence in Amarillo elections, and notched two more wins on Tuesday night. The firm boosted Raef and Potter County Justice of the Peace Robert Taylor to a huge victory over his opponent. Once upon a time, Austin-based political consultancy Murphy Nasica was the heavyweight in Amarillo elections, but Neel and Partners looks to be taking their place among conservative candidates, having now won multiple county elections and school board elections in Amarillo.