Two local elections are headed for a June 18 run-off, the tSPLOST passed, and one incumbent was unseated in Tuesday’s Coffee County primary election.
The final votes came in around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday due to an issue with one of the ballot cards. One of the machines that reads and records early voting ballots did not record the votes on the memory card. In order to count the votes on that machine, poll workers had to scan each printed ballot one by one — a process that took several hours. The first round of votes, about 3,883, came in shortly after 10 p.m. The remaining 3,200 or so ballots were not counted until three hours later.
A total of 7,168 voters cast ballots in the primary out of 22,854 registered voters — a turnout of 31.36 percent.
The biggest election on the ballot was the race for sheriff. With current sheriff Doyle Wooten retiring, three candidates — chief deputy Fred Cole, former sheriff’s office drug agent and captain Daniel Paulk, and local businessman Kenneth Merritt — threw their names in the hat for the next sheriff of Coffee County.
As the first votes came in, there was a chance that Cole could win the election outright without facing a run-off. However, while Cole maintained his lead as the votes were counted, the percentages didn’t change much. He won the day easily with 2,909 votes — 49.57 percent — but he was about half a percentage point away from avoiding a run-off. Paulk was second with 1,773 (30.21 percent) and Merritt was third with 1,187 (20.22 percent).
Another election headed for a run-off is the race for tax commissioner. Incumbent Shanda Henderson received 2,525 votes (43.85 percent) while Angela Harper was next with 1,640 votes (28.48 percent). Shane Pridgen, who had been in second place earlier in the evening, was a close third with 1,593 votes (27.67 percent).
The run-off will take place on June 18. There will be early voting the week before the run-off.
The closest race of the night was the one for state court judge. That election saw local attorney Clint Lott challenge Judge Katy Paulk, who had been appointed to the state court bench following the retirement of long-time judge Bob Preston. That race sat at almost 50/50 all night long. And, for intents and purposes, it basically ended at 50/50. Early on, Judge Paulk led Lott by a handful of votes. However, when the final tally came in, the two had flip-flopped and Lott escaped with a win by the narrowest of margins, 3,469 (50.72 percent) to 3,370 (49.28 percent).
An election with statewide implications was the bid for the state House of Representatives District 169 seat. Incumbent Clay Pirkle did not seek re-election, which opened the race up for newcomers. Coffee County’s Angie O’Steen squared off against Irwin County’s William Roberts on the Republican ballot. In Coffee County, O’Steen won easily 3,397 to 738. She also carried the counties to the west of Coffee to win the Republican nomination. She will face Broxton Democrat Theresa Rewis in November.
Here are the winners of other local races:
Coroner Brandon Musgrove defeated Chris Johnson 4,021 to 1,635
District 2 county commissioner Jimmy Kitchens defeated Cory Burnam 736 to 611. Kitchens will face Democrat Jacky Jones in November.
District 3 board of education member Gene Wade defeated Travaski Adams 1,132 to 188.
In the District 5 board of education race, Jacquelyn Jowers defeated Tabitha Paulk 1,327 to 501.
The Transportation Investment Act (tSPLOST) passed 3,871 to 2,790. This will bring around $44 million to Coffee County for road and other transportation projects.