Mims Declared Winner in Democratic Primary

TYLER — Smith County’s next Precinct 1 constable will be Willie Mims. Mims won a majority of the votes in the March Democratic primary, but his victory was held up because incumbent Bobby Garmon raised questions about whether Mims had obtained sufficient ballot petition signatures. Now a judge who earlier ruled Mims ineligible has reversed course and decided Mims indeed won the election. The judge now says a candidate can’t be deemed ineligible once the voting process gets underway. In the primary, Mims outdistanced both Garmon and Curtis Traylor Harris. There is no Republican candidate on the November ballot.