Editing Bell County, Texas (section)

==Government and Politics==
{{PresHead|place=Bell County, Texas|source=<ref>{{Cite web |last=Leip |first=David |title=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections |url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS |access-date=April 6, 2018 |website=uselectionatlas.org}}</ref>}}
<!-- PresRow should be {{PresRow|Year|Winning party|GOP vote #|Dem vote #|3rd party vote #|State}} -->
{{PresRow|2024|Republican|75,161|53,973|1,879|Texas}}
{{PresRow|2020|Republican|67,893|57,014|2,783|Texas}}
{{PresRow|2016|Republican|51,998|37,801|5,902|Texas}}
{{PresRow|2012|Republican|49,574|35,512|1,339|Texas}}
{{PresRow|2008|Republican|49,242|40,413|935|Texas}}
{{PresRow|2004|Republican|52,135|27,165|424|Texas}}
{{PresRow|2000|Republican|41,208|21,011|1,072|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1996|Republican|30,348|22,638|4,063|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1992|Republican|24,936|18,684|11,457|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1988|Republican|29,382|17,751|418|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1984|Republican|31,117|13,322|323|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1980|Republican|20,729|15,823|1,333|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1976|Democratic|15,126|17,499|287|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1972|Republican|17,525|6,848|38|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1968|Democratic|5,705|11,893|3,547|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1964|Democratic|2,938|14,557|17|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1960|Democratic|4,606|10,651|31|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1956|Democratic|4,285|9,603|44|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1952|Democratic|4,862|9,484|12|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1948|Democratic|1,069|7,548|496|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1944|Democratic|763|6,960|1,232|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1940|Democratic|1,050|7,418|0|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1936|Democratic|475|6,119|27|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1932|Democratic|724|7,607|23|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1928|Republican|3,366|3,079|7|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1924|Democratic|1,632|7,273|552|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1920|Democratic|483|3,595|2,003|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1916|Democratic|356|3,615|196|Texas}}
{{PresFoot|1912|Democratic|128|3,024|42|Texas}}
{{U.S. SenHead|place=Bell County, Texas|Seat=1|source=<ref>{{cite news |title=2024 Senate Election (Official Returns) |website=Commonwealth of Texas by county |date=November 5, 2024 |access-date=December 5, 2024 |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-elections/texas-senate-results}}</ref>}}
<!-- U.S. SenRow should be {{U.S. SenRow|Year|Winning party|GOP vote #|Dem vote #|3rd party vote #|State}} -->
{{U.S. SenRow|2024|Republican|70,468|55,441|3,463|Texas}}
{{U.S. SenFoot}}
Politically, Bell County tends to support [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] candidates for office. It has voted for the Republican presidential nominee every cycle beginning with [[Ronald Reagan]] in 1980. The county has been trending Democratic, similar to the patterns of the state as a whole.

The county is a bellwether for Texas, voting for the statewide winner of every presidential election in Texas, except in 1952 and 1956. In 1952 and 1956, Republican [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] (who was born in Texas) won the state while losing Bell County.

Democratic strength in the county is concentrated in the city of Killeen, which gave Joe Biden 63.4% of the vote in the 2020 election. The remainder of the county, particularly the cities of Belton and Temple, is much more strongly Republican.<ref>{{Cite web |title=TX 2022 Congressional |url=https://davesredistricting.org/maps#viewmap::1c2c1e0d-2fd1-43a8-a039-73e7023124d1 |access-date=August 24, 2023 |website=Dave's Redistricting}}</ref>

=== County government ===

==== Bell County elected officials ====
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan="2" style="text-align:center; vertical-align:bottom;" | Position
! style="text-align:center; vertical-align:bottom;" | Name
! style="text-align:center; vertical-align:bottom;" | Party
|-
| style="background:red;" |&nbsp;
| County Judge
| David Blackburn
| [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
|-
| style="background:red;" |&nbsp;
| Commissioner, Precinct 1
| Russell Schneider
| [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
|-
| style="background:red;" |&nbsp;
| Commissioner, Precinct 2
| Bobby Whitson
| [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
|-
| style="background:red;" |&nbsp;
| Commissioner, Precinct 3
| Greg Reynolds
| [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
|-
| style="background:blue;" |&nbsp;
| Commissioner, Precinct 4
| Louie Minor
| [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
|-
| style="background:red;" |&nbsp;
| District Attorney
| Stephanie Newell
| [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
|-
| style="background:red;" |&nbsp;
| District Clerk
| Joanna Staton
| [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
|-
| style="background:red;" |&nbsp;
| County Attorney
| James E. Nichols 
| [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
|-
| style="background:red;" |&nbsp;
| County Clerk
| Shelley Coston
| [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
|-
| style="background:red;" |&nbsp;
| Sheriff
| Bill Cooke
| [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
|-
| style="background:red;" |&nbsp;
| Tax Assessor-Collector
| Shay Luedeke
| [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
|-
| style="background:red;" |&nbsp;
| Treasurer
| Gaylon Evans
| [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
|-
| style="background:red;" |&nbsp;
| County Court-at-Law #1
| Paul Motz
| [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
|-
| style="background:red;" |&nbsp;
| County Court-at-Law #2
| John Mischtian
| [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
|-
| style="background:red;" |&nbsp;
| County Court-at-Law #3
| Rebecca DePew
| [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
|-
| style="background:red;" |&nbsp;
| 27th Judicial District Court
| Debbie Garrett
| [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
|-
| style="background:red;" |&nbsp;
| 146th Judicial District Court
| Mike Russell
| [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
|-
| style="background:red;" |&nbsp;
| 169th Judicial District Court
| Cari L. Starritt-Burnett
| [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
|-
| style="background:red;" |&nbsp;
| 264th Judicial District Court
| Paul L. LePak
| [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
|-
| style="background:red;" |&nbsp;
| 426th Judicial District Court
| Steve Duskie
| [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
|-
| style="background:red;" |&nbsp;
| 478th Judicial District Court
| Wade Faulkner
| [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
|-
| style="background:red;" |&nbsp;
| Peace Justice, Pct. 1
| Theodore R. Duffield
| [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
|-
| style="background:red;" |&nbsp;
| Peace Justice, Pct. 2
| Cliff Coleman
| [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
|-
| style="background:red;" |&nbsp;
| Peace Justice, Pct. 3 Pl. 1
| Rosanne Fisher
| [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
|-
| style="background:red;" |&nbsp;
| Peace Justice, Pct. 3 Pl. 2
| Larry Wilkey
| [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
|-
| style="background:blue;" |&nbsp;
| Peace Justice, Pct. 4 Pl. 1
| Gregory Johnson
| [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
|-
| style="background:blue;" |&nbsp;
| Peace Justice, Pct. 4 Pl. 2
| Nicola James
| [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
|-
| style="background:red;" |&nbsp;
| Constable, Precinct 1
| Patricia "Pat" Duffield
| [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
|-
| style="background:red;" |&nbsp;
| Constable, Precinct 2
| Christopher "Chris" Bazar
| [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
|-
| style="background:red;" |&nbsp;
| Constable, Precinct 3
| Devin Rosenthal
| [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
|-
| style="background:blue;" |&nbsp;
| Constable, Precinct 4
| Martha Dominguez
| [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
|}