Dallas

Bill Waybourn Defeats Dee Anderson in Tarrant County Sheriff Republican Runoff Election

Waybourn to face Libertarian Max W. Koch III in November general election

Former Dalworthington Gardens Police Chief Bill Waybourn won Tuesday's Republican Party runoff for Tarrant County sheriff over four-term incumbent Dee Anderson.

With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Waybourn captured 17,684 votes to Anderson's 14,521 votes. [[380745171,R]]

"People were going to decide on a vision and not a name," Waybourn said at his election returns watch party Tuesday night. "We think they have decided on a new vision for Tarrant County."

Anderson has been sheriff for 16 years and was seeking his fifth term.

Neither candidate captured more than 50 percent of the vote in the March 1 primary โ€“ Anderson got 48.9 percent while Waybourn got 40.67 percent.

"We think that the primary was about name recognition," Waybourn explained. "Three months later, peope are looking for the difference between the two people, and when they walked in there (the voting booth) today, they knew who they were going to vote for and why they were going to vote." 

LIVE RESULTS: Follow the returns from Tuesday's runoff elections

There is no Democratic Party candidate running for Tarrant County sheriff in the Nov. 8 general election.

According to the Libertarian Party of Texas' website and the Tarrant County Elections Administrator, Max W. Koch III is a candidate for sheriff in Tarrant County. Koch will face off with Waybourn in November's general election. The winner will be sworn in next January.

It's possible other political parties that hold conventions instead of primaries could submit candidates for the sheriff's office as well, according to Tarrant County Elections.

Waybourn is well known for instituting the first mandatory blood draws for drunken driving suspects when they refuse breathalyzers, while Anderson gained notoriety in the Arlington Police Department when he launched the Amber Alert System for missing children.

Other runoff races to watch Tuesday included the Republican contest for State Board of Education District 9; Republican contests for sheriff in Dallas County, Johnson County and Kaufman County; the Republican contest for Texas House of Representatives District 33 โ€“ which includes parts of Collin and Rockwall counties; the Republican contest for Texas House of Representatives District 64 โ€“ which includes much of Denton County; and both the Democratic and the Republican contests for Texas Railroad Commissioner.

See complete results of Tuesday's runoff elections โ€“ searchable by locality, candidate name or office โ€“ by visiting the Lone Star Politics page.

NBC 5's Chris Van Horne contributed to this report.

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