Rick Tullis, a Midway Independent School District trustee and business leader, appears to be a shoo-in for McLennan County judge as the slate of primary candidates is solidified.
Tullis, 56, a Republican, was the only candidate of either party to file for the county executive position before the Dec. 8 deadline for filings in state and county party primaries set for March 3.
The primary election also features a Democratic contest in County Commissioner Precinct 2 and a single Republican candidate in Precinct 4 – Perry Felton, son of the sitting county judge. In all, as many as three of the five seats on the Commissioners Court could be affected in 2027.
County Judge Scott Felton, who has served since 2013, will step down at the end of 2026.
County judges in Texas preside over the Commissioners Court, develop the county budget and oversee regional issues such as water, transportation and economic development. They have minimal judicial duties.
Tullis, a professional engineer, is founder and former CEO of Capstone Mechanical. He has played lead roles in establishing the Greater Waco Advanced Manufacturing Academy and the Texas State Technical College WorkSITE center. He has served on the Midway ISD board since 2013 and will have to step down when he takes the county role in 2027.
On a Tuesday call with The Waco Bridge, Tullis described himself as a steward of Felton’s economic development legacy.
“I think our current county judge and Commissioners Court have done a great job with the levers they have to usher in this really unprecedented economic growth that we’ve had the last decade,” Tullis said, “and I want to continue that.”
He cited another Felton-backed initiative, the Central Texas Water Alliance, as a foundation to build on, particularly when it comes to regional partnerships.
“I get excited thinking about that organization and how we can grow it into tackling some of these bigger infrastructure problems throughout the area,” Tullis said. The alliance, established by the Texas Legislature this year, is a coalition of Central Texas counties working to secure additional water supplies.
Tullis said that though he’s running as a Republican candidate, the county judgeship appeals to him because partisan politics are secondary to solving local challenges.
“I think the county judge job is more 90% work and 10% politics,” Tullis said. “As opposed to Austin,” where he said those ratios are reversed. “Working for the community is what really attracted me to this.”
Meanwhile, Judge Felton’s son Perry Felton, a Republican, is set to run unopposed for the Precinct 4 County Commissioner seat, which Commissioner Ben Perry has held since 2011. The precinct takes in West Waco, Woodway, McGregor and the northwestern part of the county.
The Precinct 2 commissioner seat has two Democratic candidates — Jeremy Davis and Travis Gibson — dueling in the party primaries. The winner will challenge Republican incumbent D.L. Wilson in the Nov. 3 general election.
Wilson won the seat last year by a razor-thin margin in the 2024 general election against Davis, the Democratic candidate, and Gibson, a write-in candidate.
Precinct 2, which encompasses the eastern part of the county, was subject to a controversial mid-decade redistricting led by Felton and the all-Republican commissioner’s court.
The late entrance of Gibson into the race is likely to complicate Davis’ attempt at unseating Wilson, who will already benefit from the new Republican-favoring Precinct 2 map, as The Bridge reported previously.
Registration for the March 3 primaries ends Feb. 2.
Correction, Dec. 19, 2025, 1:19 p.m. Central: This article has been updated to correct the year that Scott Felton began as county judge. He was appointed in 2012 to fill the unexpired term of Jim Lewis and won election the following year.
