TYLER, Texas — Appointed Constable Ralph Caraway Jr. won the Democratic primary for the Smith County Pct. 1 constable seat after Tuesday's election.
Caraway came out with the majority vote in the three-way race against Willie Mims and Derrick Holman, who are both former employees of the Pct. 1 constable's office.
Caraway was appointed to the role after former officeholder Curtis Traylor-Harris was removed and later convicted of theft in December 2022. Caraway previously worked at the Smith County District Attorney’s Office as an investigator.
Mims was a candidate in the 2020 Democratic primary and a longtime officer within the constable's office; however, a lawsuit filed by Bobby Garmon, the appointed constable at the time, saying Mims did not have the required number of signatures for his candidate application caused complications.
Despite the lawsuit, Mims won the majority vote among Garmon and Traylor-Harris. But a court order said a judge would have to rule on if Mims could be the Democratic nominee. Following the primary, that judge decided Mims was the nominee because he won the majority.
However, the 12th Court of Appeals later ruled a runoff between Garmon and Traylor-Harris, disqualifying Mims as the winner. Traylor-Harris then won the runoff.
Holman, a former Smith County Pct. 1 sergeant, was one of the two employees accused of stealing from Tyler residents while issuing an eviction notice in late January 2021, but ultimately a jury found him not guilty of the allegations in August 2023.
There is no Republican challenger for this race.