City of Gladewater canvasses votes, readies reception for outgoing council members

Just 7.85 percent of Gladewater’s 3,555 registered voters cast ballots in this year’s council election.
“We had a total of 279 voters that turned out for the election between Gregg County and Upshur County,” Gladewater City Clerk Judy Van Houten said during Wednesday afternoon’s vote canvassing meeting.
Council members Stoney Stone, Michael Weber and Mayor Pro Tem Sonny Anderson were in attendance, with Anderson running the session in the absence of Mayor Brandy Flanagan as well as council members Teddy Sorrells, Rocky Hawkins and Kevin Clark.
The whole group’s scheduled to be back on the dais Thursday evening for their 6 p.m. monthly session for May. That said, they and the public are invited to get to City Hall as early as 4:30 p.m. May 15 for an hour-long reception recognizing outgoing council members Hawkins and Sorrells.
It took the trio of council members in attendance Wednesday all of four minutes to wrap up the official count in the City of Gladewater’s 2025 election. The tabulation had no impact on the results of the various contested races this cycle.
Notably, three out of seven elected officials is sufficient for canvassing votes. A quorum (in Gladewater, five of seven council members) is typically necessary to take action.
“The State of Texas requires that you only have two council members for a quorum to canvass votes,” Van Houten confirmed. It accounts for the transitional nature of election season, she added. “They give that allowance.”
The election included ballots from 119 Gregg County voters and 160 in Upshur.
Per Van Houten’s data, “All late military, mail and provisional ballots cast in this election, if found eligible, have been counted and have been added to the official tabulation.”
According to the canvassing:
– For Place 4, challenger William Blackmon won the seat with 147 votes to 131 for the incumbent, Sorrells. Blackmon collected 59 early votes and 88 on Election Day; Sorrells, in addition to 59 early votes and 70 on Saturday, May 3, netted the two absentee votes cast this year.
– For Place 5, Sonny Anderson was the incumbent, winning re-election to a seventh term with 148 votes to 122 for challenger Mark McGinnis. Both candidates earned one absentee vote. Anderson collected 68 early votes and 79 on Election Day to 44 early decisions for McGinnis and 77 on May 3.
– Milton Anderson was the sole contender for Hawkins’ Place 6 position. Anderson netted 229 votes overall including the two absentee decisions, 97 early votes and 130 on Election Day.
– Place 7 incumbent Kevin Clark saw no challenger this cycle, collecting 236 votes of support (two absentee, 98 in early voting and 136 on Election Day).