Incumbent Marian Brown will be heading into a runoff election with challenger Lupe Valdez in the race Democratic primary race for Dallas County sheriff after none of the five candidates garnered more than 50% of the votes, according to unofficial counts.
In the primary race, Brown received 48,427 votes, or 41.96%. Valdez, who previously held the sheriff role from 2005-17, received 43,587 votes, or 37.77%
Candidates Sam Mohamad, Rodney Thomas and Roy Williams Jr. received 6,197; 4,432; and 12,761 votes, respectively.
In the Democratic primary, 121,512 votes were cast in Dallas County, representing nearly 9% of voters.
A run-off election will be held May 28. There are no Republican candidates in the race, so the winner of the run-off will be unopposed in the general election.
Updated 10:13 March 5
Incumbent Marian Brown continues to hold her lead in the Democratic Primary for Dallas County sheriff. According to unofficial tallies, Brown has garnered 31,225 votes, or 44.67%.
Primary challenger Lupe Valdez, who previously served as sheriff from 2005-27, continues to trail with 25,668 votes, or 36.72%. Other challengers Sam Mohamad, Rodney Thomas, Roy Williams Jr. have 3,499; 2,299; and 7,211 votes, respectively.
No Republicans are running for the position.
Posted 7:46 p.m. March 5
With early votes coming in, unofficial tallies show Marian Brown and Lupe Valdez leading the Democratic Primary for Dallas County sheriff.
In the race, incumbent Brown faces a number of challengers, including Sam Mohamad, Rodney Thomas, Roy Williams Jr. and Valdez, who previously served in the sheriff role from 2005-2017 before running for Texas governor.
Brown is the first Black sheriff of Dallas County, according to her campaign website. Valdez was the first Latina sheriff of the county.
No Republicans are running for the position.
Brown is currently leading the race with 29,085 votes, or 45.92%. Valdez is trailing in second with 22,540 votes, or 35.59%. Mohamad, Thomas and Williams have garnered 3,142; 2,025 and 6,555 votes, respectively.
What you need to know
Established in 1846, the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department oversees the Lew Sterrett Justice Center, which has an average population of more than 6,000 inmates and more than 2,000 employees, according to the department’s website. In addition, the department has jurisdiction in all county areas.
What else?
In early voting, there were 63,335 ballots cast countywide, which represents nearly 8% of Dallas County's 1,423,689 voters.
Totals from ballots cast March 5 have yet to be released. Polls closed at 7 p.m., although voters who were in line at 7 p.m. were still able to cast ballots.
What’s next?
Community Impact will update this article as more election day vote totals are released. All results are unofficial until canvassed.
Visit www.communityimpact.com/voter-guide/election-results to see results from all local elections in your community.
The general election will be held on Nov. 5.
