Longtime Ector County Precinct 2 Commissioner Greg Simmons won another term in office Tuesday night.
He faced two challengers — Billy Tripp and Ryan Patton.
With final results, Simmons finished with 2,535 (53.95%); Patton netted 1,112 (23.66%) and Tripp garnered 1,052 (22.39%).
Simmons first took office in January 1999. Contacted after early voting was in, Simmons said anything could change, but he was very hopeful.
Simmons said he was “very pleased that the voters see fit to keep me where I’m at and continue the work I’ve been doing. We’ll kind of cautiously wait and see what happens with all the voting that happened today.”
He said he thinks his tag line has been consistency.
“People know what they’re going to get with me. I don’t surprise them with crazy votes that they weren’t expecting and antics that aren’t professional so I think just the consistency of knowing what they’re going to get when they elect me and re-elect me,” Simmons said.
Tripp is a 68-year-old local businessman, and Patton, a 36-year-old healthcare administrator.
After early voting and six boxes of 26 were in, Tripp said he was going to wait it out and see “where it goes.”
This was his first time running for office. “It was a learning experience. I think would do some things different next time and I learned a lot…. But I have no regrets, so we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”
Tripp, whose family has been in Odessa since the turn of the last century, graduated from Odessa High School and has a bachelor of business administration from Texas A&M.
Although he currently runs a residential and commercial construction company, Tripp said he’s worked in earth construction in the oilfield, been involved in oil and gas production, operated a furniture business and worked as a controller for a couple of companies. He’s also spent time farming and ranching with his dad in McCamey.
Patton is another Odessa native. The Odessa High School grad obtained his associate degree in general studies and his bachelor’s degree in business administration from American Intercontinental University. He also has a master’s degree in business administration from Louisiana State University, Shreveport.
For the past seven years, Patton has worked for the Steward Medical Group running operations for roughly 50 healthcare providers and 30 clinics, including Odessa Regional Medical Center and Scenic Mountain Medical Centers.
Patton said after early voting and six boxes came in that they were still looking at the numbers.
“We’ve got 20 more boxes to come in, so we’re going to just hold tight and look at that and go from there,” Patton said.
This is also Patton’s first time running for office.
“It’s been very exciting and I’ve learned so much, both good and bad things and I’ll continue to fight to better this community regardless of the outcome of this election,” he added.
A native Odessan, Patton said he plans to be an advocate and a voice for his community.
