Republican incumbent Chris Hill appeared to edge past Democrat John R. "Buster" Brown for Collin County judge, finishing with just over 50% of the vote after Election Day ballots were counted Nov. 3, KERA reported.

The race is not yet official. All results remain unofficial until canvassed.

Brown held an early lead in results posted at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 3, with 183,429 early votes (50.66%) to Hill's 178,629 (49.34%), according to Community Impact. Those totals reflected early voting and mail ballots only. Hill pulled ahead after Election Day in-person votes were added.

The AP's live midterm coverage did not include a call for the Collin County judge race. The AP compiles vote tallies and declares winners in nearly 7,000 races nationwide, according to its election coverage, but this local contest was not among them.

Allen residents cast ballots at five Election Day vote centers in the city, including Allen Public Library, Allen ISD Service Center and Allen ISD Professional Learning and Auxiliary Services, according to the county's election order. Collin County Elections Administrator Kaleb Breaux told Sachse News before the election that Allen Public Library was among the busiest early voting locations in the county.

Who ran

Hill, a Republican, has served as Collin County judge since 2019, according to election data compiled by BallotReady. KERA described Brown as a Plano attorney. The county judge presides over the five-member Commissioners Court, which adopts the county budget and shares spending decisions with four commissioners.

KERA reported that Collin County raised its property tax rate for the first time in decades this year. Hill cast the lone no vote on the budget and tax rate, according to KERA.

Bond package rejected

Allen taxpayers also weighed in on a four-proposition, $817.5 million Collin County bond package. Voters rejected all four propositions, according to unofficial results reported by Community Impact.

With all vote centers reporting, opposition ran as follows, according to Community Impact:

  • Proposition A ($296.5 million for court and detention facilities): 62.59% against
  • Proposition B ($475 million for non-tolled roads and bridges): 51.67% against
  • Proposition C ($6 million for parks and open space): 53.32% against
  • Proposition D ($40 million for elections and records storage): 69.97% against

Each proposition was labeled a tax increase on the ballot, according to the county's bond election order.

A separate $600 million Collin College bond proposition also failed, with 52.11% opposed, according to unofficial results reported by the Murphy Monitor.

Senate race called

On the same ballot, the AP called the Texas U.S. Senate race for Democrat James Talarico over Republican Ken Paxton at 11:03 p.m. EST on Nov. 3. Talarico's win marks the first time a Democrat has won a statewide office in Texas since 1994, according to the AP. The AP also reported that Democrats won control of Congress in the midterm elections.

What comes next

Collin County Commissioners Court is scheduled to canvass the Nov. 3 results on Nov. 16 at 1:30 p.m. at the Collin County Administration Building, 2300 Bloomdale Rd., Suite 4192, in McKinney, according to the county's canvass notice. Results are posted on the county's elections website at collincountytx.gov/elections.