Freestone county voters set the general election ballots for fall as picks were made Tuesday in two contested county level Democratic Primary races.

Democrats decided to stick with incumbent District Clerk Janet Chappell, giving her 988 votes to 390 cast for challenger Letha Willis.

Mrs. Chappell will not face a Republican oppo- nent in fall.

Voters in the Democratic Primary favored Dianne Manning over Sharon Gibson, 841- 434, in awarding the nomination for county clerk.

Mrs. Manning, a deputy county clerk, faces GOP candidate Linda Jarvis in the general election. Mrs. Jarvis, the chief deputy clerk, was unopposed in the primary and received 1,194 votes.

Veteran County Clerk Mary Lynn White, a Democrat, decided to retire at the end of her current term instead of seeking reelection this year.

The primaries in Freestone county had a new twist this year—-for the first time in history more voters participated as Republicans than as Democrats.

A total of 1,630 voted in the GOP Primary and 1,444 voted in the Demo Primary, a difference of 186.

Of the most interest statewide were gubernatorial nominations.

On the GOP side, the contest was close late Tuesday night with incumbent Gov. Rick Perry holding 51.28 percent of the statewide tally over 30.56 percent for challenger U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, with 68.19 percent of voting precincts reporting.

Freestone county voters were clear in their preference, giving Perry a 2-to-1 margin with 881 votes to 419 cast for Hutchison.

There were three candidates seeking the GOP gubernatorial nomination, which could throw it into a runoff if support for Perry was to slide.

Democratic voters statewide picked former Houston Mayor Bill White as their nominee for governor, outright, over six other candidates.

In Freestone county, voters mirrored that line, giving White 962 votes, or 84.46 percent of the total in the race.

A 2-candidate race in the GOP Primary for State Board of Education, District 9, was almost a dead heat late Tuesday between incumbent Don McLeroy and challenger Thomas Ratliff. Freestone county voters cast 540 ballots for McLeroy and 640 for Ratliff.

Six GOP candidates were seeking nomination for Texas Supreme Court Justice, Place 3, with percentages running from 10.42 percent to 18.77 percent statewide, guaranteeing a runoff election.

Freestone county narrowly went for Limestone county native Rebecca Simmons, giving her 350 votes to lead the field, and assigning 296 for Jim Moseley.

Vote totals for county level candidates running unopposed in the Democratic Primary, and who face no oppostion in the general election, are: incumbents County Judge Linda Grant, 1,127; County Treasurer Kay Barger, 1,054; Pct. 2 Commissioner Craig Oakes, 189; Pct. 4 Commissioner Clyde Ridge, 208; Pct. 2 JP Debra Hamilton, 183; Pct. 3 JP Beth Ireland, 399; and Pct. 4 JP Shirley Mays, 207.

Tallies for unopposed GOP candidates at the county level are: 87th District Judge Deborah Oakes Evans, 1,237; and Pct. 1 JP Theresa Farris, 364.

Incumbent Republican state Sen. Steve Ogden appeared to head off challenger Ben Bius with 68.4 percent of the vote throughout District 5 late Tuesday. Votes given in Freestone county were 985 for Ogden and 428 for Bius.

Also on ballots were most statewide offices and judicial posts.

Primary runoff elections, where needed, will be conducted April 13, and the general election is Nov. 2.