What a night. Several races were settled last night and several more have been whittled down to two candidates who will face off in the November General Election. With The County Line’s fearless leader John Overby covering Russell County Baseball’s District championship win, it was all hands on deck for the rest of the team as we closely monitored the results in both Adair and Russell counties.
Votes were slow to come in at first, with both counties experiencing technical challenges with voting machines. Here’s what you need to know:
Adair County
The race for judge-executive is now settled. Larry Russell Bryant topped incumbent Gale Cowan, 1,616-1,484, and—with no Democrat opposition—will be Adair’s next county judge. David Herbst finished third in the three-Republican race, with 273 votes.
There were no primary choices for sheriff, clerk, or jailer, but plenty more action down-ballot. Incumbent Harold Burton lost his re-election bid to fellow Republican Tony Denton in magisterial District 1, while incumbents Daryl Flatt and Sammy Baker won their races by wide margins in Districts 2 and 3 respectively; Ronald “Mark” Humphress beat incumbent Greg Caldwell in a close District 6 race; and incumbent Terry Hadley defeated challenger Terry Farris by four votes in District 7.
There were no primary challengers for the offices of PVA, Clerk, Sheriff, County Attorney, Coroner, and Surveyor.
Ken Hill bested Robert Loy for District 3 Constable, and Joe Collins Jr. won the District 7 Constable race.
Russell County
It was a good night for incumbents in Russell County, with every currently-sitting officer who ran for re-election winning his or her respective primary race. In a heavily-Republican-leaning field, most of this county’s races are now settled, with no competition in November.
Randy Marcum emerged victorious in a wild six-person race for Russell County Judge-Executive, earning more than 2,700 votes. His closest competition was Clarissa “Moochie” Hart, who earned more than 1,900 votes. Marcum will now face Brent West, the only Democrat to file for county office in Russell County, in November.
Patti Glover won an equally competitive race for county clerk. Her 2,070 votes were good enough to take the five-person race, with Amy Riggins Melson and Kennedy Coffey coming in second and third, respectively.
Sheriff Derek Polston cruised to an easy victory over Nicholas Bertram, winning by an almost 5-to-1 margin; Mark Coots retained his Coroner position with a win over Clifton Bunch; incumbent magistrates Terry Waddell, Mickey Garner and Steve Richardson all won their re-election bids, as did constables Jeff Aaron, Greg Hammond, and Richard Wooldridge.
Zach Wilson won the race for District 3 Magistrate, as did Larry Skaggs in District 5.
Amy Neighbors, Charles Booker, and Rand Paul all won their races for state and national office, respectively—clinching primary wins.
Check back with us over the next few days as we interview winners and further analyze the upcoming November General Election.
This special-edition morning post is dedicated to Ronnie Malone and Heather Willis Ford, each of whom celebrate birthdays today. We wish both of them the best!
