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Election Day was Saturday in Port Arthur and Nederland, where one mayor’s race and two contested school board elections were scheduled.

Early voting concluded Tuesday.

Election Day voting ended at 7 p.m.

In Port Arthur, incumbent Mayor Thurman Bartie secured 47.28 percent of the votes, followed by Floyd Batiste (26.44 percent),  Willie “Bae” Lewis (17.83 percent) and Matthews Christian Jr. (8.45 percent).

Because neither candidate secured 50 percent-plus-one at the polls this weekend, the top two vote getters – Bartie and Batiste – move on to a runoff election.

The Port Arthur Independent School District trustee election included current seat holder Dianne Brown. Other candidates were Yadi Cardenas, Kimberly Wycoff-Johnson, Jacori Narcisse and Nina Stelly. Voters decided on two available seats in the PAISD election.

The top-two voter getters win the seats. Those are Narcisse (1,103) and Wycoff-Johnson (1,083).

Brown was a close third with 1,068 votes.

Cardenas and Stelly finished four and fifth, respectively.

The Nederland Independent School District trustee election pitted seat holders Suzanne Isom and Nicholas Phillips against challenger Daniel Cruz.

The school district announced unofficial results at approximately 7:30 p.m. Saturday of the 2022 Board of Trustees election.

Suzanne Isom: Total Votes – 334, Percentage – 39.25%

Daniel H. Cruz: Total Votes – 190, Percentage – 22.33%

Nicholas “Nick” Phillips: Total Votes – 327, Percentage – 38.43%

The top-two vote getters win the seats.

Even with only a small amount of Saturday’s ballots counted, numbers combined with those cast in early voting seemingly show overwhelming support for Proposition A, which relates to ongoing efforts to deepen the Sabine-Neches Waterway.

As of 8 p.m. Saturday, 75.54 percent of votes cast were in favor of the proposed measure.

Proposition A will allow the Sabine-Neches Navigation District to seek loans to assist with the waterway deepening, currently funded in 40 percent by the district and 60 percent by the Army Corps of Engineers.

Deputy Director Matthew Kaufman with the Navigation District said they currently use six of their nine cents acquired by tax revenue on the waterway project, which will deepen it from 400 to 48 feet.

Additional funding could complete the project within six years.

Proposition A does not increase taxes for residents.