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In 1984, he ran for sheriff Painter but almost missed being placed on the Republican primary ballot in May 1984. As he filed his completed paperwork of candidacy, county party chairman William Toler Shaner (1931-1999), the officer in charge of accepting the material, had left early, closed the office, and was at an [[oil]] field site some 170 miles from Midland. Though Painter got the material to Shaner, with the filing fee, by 8 p.m. on the night of the Friday deadline, his papers were declared invalid because they were not filed by 5 p.m. Painter went to court to get on the ballot; the judge decreed that Painter met all ballot qualifications; the absence of the party chairman made the 5 p.m. deadline impossible to uphold.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://law.justia.com/cases/texas/supreme-court/1984/c-2862-0.html|title=Painter v. Shaner (1984)|publisher=law.justia.com|date=April 4, 1984|accessdate=June 25, 2020}}</ref>

In 1984, he ran for sheriff Painter but almost missed being placed on the Republican primary ballot in May 1984. As he filed his completed paperwork of candidacy, county party chairman William Toler Shaner (1931-1999), the officer in charge of accepting the material, had left early, closed the office, and was at an [[oil]] field site some 170 miles from Midland. Though Painter got the material to Shaner, with the filing fee, by 8 p.m. on the night of the Friday deadline, his papers were declared invalid because they were not filed by 5 p.m. Painter went to court to get on the ballot; the judge decreed that Painter met all ballot qualifications; the absence of the party chairman made the 5 p.m. deadline impossible to uphold.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://law.justia.com/cases/texas/supreme-court/1984/c-2862-0.html|title=Painter v. Shaner (1984)|publisher=law.justia.com|date=April 4, 1984|accessdate=June 25, 2020}}</ref>

In the 2008 Republican [[primary]] election, Painter scored 90.29 percent of the ballots cast over fellow Republican Joe D. Lozano, Sr.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mrt.com/top_stories/article_2b37f396-c3d0-5abd-9d0c-5bf802d77a4e.html#ixzz3DX5pJuDB|title=Midland County Sheriff Painter leads off filings for election to public office|publisher='The Midland Reporter-Telegram''|author=Kathleen Thurber|date=November 28, 2011|accessdate=September 17, 2014}}</ref> Eight years earlier, Lozano ran against Painter as an [[Independent voter|Independent]] in the 2000 [[general election]] and polled 18 percent of the vote.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mrt.com/import/article_c8174c54-899a-56cf-ba31-8dd74c9b0375.html|title=Midlanders begin casting early ballots for November 5 election|date=October 21, 2002|publisher=''Midland Reporter-Telegram''|accessdate=September 17, 2014}}</ref>​

In the 2008 Republican [[primary]] election, Painter scored 90.29 percent of the ballots cast over fellow Republican Joe D. Lozano, Sr.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mrt.com/top_stories/article_2b37f396-c3d0-5abd-9d0c-5bf802d77a4e.html#ixzz3DX5pJuDB|title=Midland County Sheriff Painter leads off filings for election to public office|publisher='The Midland Reporter-Telegram''|author=Kathleen Thurber|date=November 28, 2011|accessdate=September 17, 2014}}</ref> Eight years earlier, Lozano ran against Painter as an [[Independent voter|Independent]] in the 2000 [[general election]] and polled 18 percent of the vote.<ref>"Midlanders begin casting early ballots for November 5 election,"  ''Midland Reporter-Telegram,'' October 21, 2002.</ref>​

Other opponents who tried to derail Painter on alleged grounds of too much concentration on the war on drugs, ignoring the needs of Midland County, confiscation of drug money, and too many out-of-county arrest ventures were defeated time after time. Painter even managed to sink the re-nomination of a county judge and fellow Republican, Charles Wallis "Bro" Seltzer (born 1948), a Midland oil and [[natural gas]] attorney and reserve Air Force officer.<ref name=lawwestofpecos>{{cite web|url=http://www.texasobserver.org/185-the-law-west-of-the-pecos-for-sixteen-years-gary-painter-has-been-the-states-most-flamboyant-drug-warrior-is-his-star-beginning-to-dim/|title=The Law West of the Pecos|author=Nate Blakeslee|date=December 10, 1999|publisher=''The Texas Observer''|accessdate=June 26, 2020}}</ref>​

Other opponents who tried to derail Painter on alleged grounds of too much concentration on the war on drugs, ignoring the needs of Midland County, confiscation of drug money, and too many out-of-county arrest ventures were defeated time after time. Painter even managed to sink the re-nomination of a county judge and fellow Republican, Charles Wallis "Bro" Seltzer (born 1948), a Midland oil and [[natural gas]] attorney and reserve Air Force officer.<ref name=lawwestofpecos>{{cite web|url=http://www.texasobserver.org/185-the-law-west-of-the-pecos-for-sixteen-years-gary-painter-has-been-the-states-most-flamboyant-drug-warrior-is-his-star-beginning-to-dim/|title=The Law West of the Pecos|author=Nate Blakeslee|date=December 10, 1999|publisher=''The Texas Observer''|accessdate=June 26, 2020}}</ref>​