WHARTON COUNTY — Eleven district, county and precinct races appearing across Wharton County ballot styles for the Nov. 3 general election have only one candidate’s name listed.
The Texas Secretary of State’s certified ballot, issued Aug. 28, identifies one Republican candidate in each of the 11 races.
The candidates and offices are:
- 329th Judicial District judge: Randy M. Clapp
- Wharton County judge: Phillip Spenrath
- District clerk: Kendra Popp Charbula
- County clerk: Barbara Jedlicka Svatek
- County treasurer: Audrey Wessels Scearce
- County commissioner, Precinct 2: W.D. “Bud” Graves
- County commissioner, Precinct 4: A J Kresta
- Justice of the peace, Precinct 1: Jared L. Cullar
- Justice of the peace, Precinct 2: Glenn P. Russell
- Justice of the peace, Precinct 3: Jeff Fiala
- Justice of the peace, Precinct 4: Dawn Merta
Clapp, Spenrath, Charbula, Svatek, Scearce, Graves, Cullar and Russell currently hold the offices for which they are listed.
Kresta, Fiala and Merta are seeking offices currently held by other officials.
Kresta is the Precinct 4 commissioner candidate
The certified general election ballot lists A J Kresta as the Republican candidate for Wharton County commissioner in Precinct 4.
Kresta secured the nomination in the May 26 Republican primary runoff, defeating Tim Drapela by 346 votes to 212, according to official Wharton County election results. Kresta received 62.01% of the 558 votes cast in that contest.
No other candidate is listed against Kresta on the certified general election ballot.
Not every voter will see all 11 races
Countywide offices—including county judge, district clerk, county clerk and county treasurer—will appear throughout Wharton County. The 329th Judicial District contest also appears countywide.
Commissioner and justice of the peace races are precinct-based. Voters will see only the contests assigned to the precinct in which they are registered.
Although these races have one printed candidate, voters must select that candidate if they wish to cast a vote in the contest. Leaving an individual race blank does not invalidate the remainder of a voter’s ballot.
Texas also requires general-election write-in candidates to file a formal declaration. The 2026 filing deadline was Aug. 17. A person’s name being written on a ballot does not automatically make that vote count unless the person met the state’s write-in requirements.
Other major races remain contested
The one-candidate races do not mean the entire Wharton County ballot is uncontested. Voters will have choices in multiple federal, statewide and judicial contests, including races for U.S. Senate, U.S. House District 27, governor, attorney general, State House District 85 and several appellate court positions.
Early voting will run from Oct. 19 through Oct. 30. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3, and the voter-registration deadline is Monday, Oct. 5.
Correction — Sept. 30, 2026: An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified Dana Rh Lalka as the Republican candidate for Wharton County commissioner in Precinct 4 and misstated the primary runoff results. The certified ballot lists A J Kresta, who defeated Tim Drapela 346–212 in the Republican runoff. The earlier article also omitted Randy M. Clapp, the sole listed candidate for 329th Judicial District judge. The corrected number of races with one listed candidate is 11, not 10.
We apologize for the errors and any confusion they caused. Wharton Post strives to provide readers with factual, neutral and accurate reporting.
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