Meadows and Perry headed for runoff for McLennan County Precinct 4 commissioner seat
By Regina Dennis Tribune-Herald staff writer
A runoff election will be held to decide the Republican candidate to vie for the McLennan County Precinct 4 commissioner seat in the November general election.
With all precincts reporting, longtime incumbent Ray Meadows and Woodway insurance salesman Ben Perry each garnered less than 50 percent of the total votes in the Republican primary.
Challenger Ben Perry (right) bested incumbent commissioner Ray Meadows (left) by nearly 700 votes on Tuesday, setting up a runoff for the Precinct 4 seat.
Perry, 46, nearly captured the required votes to win the seat outright, winning 49.3 percent of the total votes to Meadows’ 42.1 percent. Only 687 votes separated the men, with 4,692 votes cast for Perry and 4,005 for Meadows.
“Coming into this, if you look at the statistics, 95 percent of the time the incumbent wins the race,” Perry said. “So, we knew going in we had an uphill battle. Our folks left here tonight excited, and I think I’ve proven that I’m a valid and viable candidate, and I’m looking to move forward and be successful in the runoff.”
The results represented an uncomfortable territory for Meadows, 65, who is currently serving his 24th year in office and hasn’t had an opponent in 16 years.
“Quite honestly, I thought it would have been flip-flopped the other way,” Meadows said. “I had hoped to win outright, that was my intent. I’ve never been in a runoff, and runoffs are not fun. But I plan to continue working on getting more people, and I’ve got some good supporters working for me, so I plan to be prepared for it.”
Meadows said he spent much of the morning at First Baptist Church of Woodway, one of the larger voting boxes in the precinct. While he recognized many loyal supporters coming to do their civic duties, he said he also saw many new faces.
“There were quite a few people I didn’t know, and, of course, you never know what’s going through a person’s mind when they are in that voting booth,” Meadows said, hinting that he plans to be more aggressive in getting votes in the runoff. “I plan to take a couple days to get my thoughts together and see what I’m going to do, and I’ll get back to full campaigning.”
West Waco resident Ed Petrich, who was the first candidate to announce a run against Meadows, trailed at a distant third, earning only 813 votes, or 8.6 percent. Petrich did not return calls requesting comment.
Perry said he thinks many of his supporters were receptive to the message of bringing new faces and ideas to the commissioners court, a theme that Petrich also shared. He said he intends to reach out to Petrich supporters during the runoff.
“I think we were two like-minded candidates and that people understood the fact that we were spreading much of the same message,” Perry said. “There are Petrich followers that need to know we admire their support of those ideals, and we plan to be reaching out to those guys and asking for their support.”
The Precinct 4 race was the most contested county-level seat in the primary. Perry and Petrich each cited increased county spending and the infamous 11.6 percent pay raise the commissioners voted for themselves in 2006 — while giving county employees only a 3 percent cost-of-living increase — as the main reasons they entered the race.
The candidates will face off again in a runoff April 13. The winner will face Democrat Will Stevens, a McLennan County Drug Abuse Resistance Education officer, and Libertarian David Meine, a retired Texas State Technical College instructor, in the November general election.
rdennis@wacotrib.com
757-5755
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Will Stevens for County Commissioner, Precinct 4, the ONLY one that DARES to make a difference!
Yeah if Rowdy had of listned and not run then this runoff would not take place and Meadows would be gone!!!!!!!!!
Ray voted with Wendall and Jim Lewis to give that stinking coal plant in Riesel a 15 year tax free zone. How much sense does that make? You and I will pay for that in taxes and dirty air. The good ole boy s are narrowed down to just 2 Ray and Jim. It needs to be 1 and counting
I agree that both Ben and Will would make for good commissioners. First we do have to unseat Meadows. He has long out stayed his welcome in commissioners court. VOTE FOR BEN!!
I like your comments. Lets start at the Commissioneers Court, then go to the White House. If they are in--Vote them out. We have to show them we are in control.
I think the old saying goes, " People never met a county commissioner they didnt like."
I think it's kinda odd how just a couple of years ago Ray Meadows had the county jailers sweating over thier job when he wanted to make the jail private and now he is the one who is worrying about his job. Ben Perry IS the man for the job and will do an awesome job for everyone in McLennan County. And if you are wondering about if he will keep in the insurance business just pick up the phone and call him...he is very open and willing to talk to people (his number can be found on his website).
I agree with Defender. Do Not Blame Mrs. Meadows!! She has been lied to by Ray Meadows just like everyone else. We can vote Ray out of office but the poor lady has to live with him. VOTE FOR BEN PERRY, VOTE FOR BEN PERRY
TO: Will For County Commissioner, I erpsonally know Will Stevens and I agree that he could make a good commissioner. I also know Ben Perry and I agree that he could make a good commissioner. They key here is to VOTE AGAINST RAY MEADOWS NOW and we can determine later whether it should be Will or Ben. JUST GET RAY OUT!!!!
If you need a reason not to vote for Meadows, here it is, better yet, travel down to RiverView Dr. off Old Lorena, look at the condition of that road, call Meadows and see the answer he gives you for not fixing it, when the Mailman won't deliver the mail because of the road, you have a big problem, and by the way the gravel on the road was done by senior citizens that used to live there......motto for Ray, "FIX MY ROAD RAY"......Perry, we're pulling for you....
Pick on Ray, not his wife. She would not say a mean thing about Ben. She thinks Ben was negative, but what do you expect her to think. I have heard her talk about it many times, and she never said that Ben was a bad person, rude, mean, etc. She simply did not like how her husband was portrayed. I think it is natural for a spouse to feel that way.
Will Stevens is a great candidate for County Commissioner. He is aware of the "little people" in our community. He knows that streets need to be done, that people with high-flutin attitudes and money, need to step back and let us get what we need. Please take a hard look at Will Stevens, he is a hard worker and will work hard to serve our county. Look for him at school districts teaching our kids the DARE program, or at the HOT Fairgrounds working Security. Talk to him and you will find that he is wanting to make positive changes for McLennan County....and he will get them done. VOTE WILL STEVENS!!!
Glad to see the people west of the River woke up
where's my fantasy football $$$ from 2001?
The first "Waco Voter" was probablly Meadows' wife again. She likes to throw rocks at Perry and speculate on what he may or may not do, usually over things Meadows has done for the last 24 years. As "Waco" quoted the paper in saying that Meadows plans to take a couple days off after him spending the day at a polling location, how is that different from any other week for Meadows. Also, if Meadows spent so much time at Woodway yesterday like he claims, did he not make Commissioners Court yesterday? Ok, Mrs. Meadows unleash your fury.
First Meadows, then Jim Lewis... Or at least get rid of Meadows.
I guess Waco Voter won't be voting in the runoff if his deciding factor is voting for a full time commissioner since Ray sure hasn't been one.
Almost happened yesterday, but hopefully by April it will be 2 down and one to go to get the county straightened out! The good ole boys club is in trouble.
I think it's great that the people have shown that they are possibly ready for change... First crunk and now Meadows has to sweat it out.....
Take note at Meadows spending his morning out front of the voting place as well as "taking a few days to get his thoughts together before hitting campaigning full time".... He's doing this on our tax dollars
Will Perry give up his lucrative insurance business if he is elected. I do not think he should be directing where to spend the counties money and then able to go back and sell the owners of the company a life insurance policy or a policy on their boat? He is going to have to resign and be a full time commissioner if he wants my vote.
Get rid of Meadows. He is not good for us and he does not care what the people want. Like I have been saing all along, I don't care who wins as long as it is not Meadows! Next stop, the rest of the County Commisioners.
In My Opinion
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