Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

No surprises in primary election

There were no surprises or upsets at the conclusion of the primary elections, Tuesday, May 21.

Those who ran unopposed and who will remain in office include: Nevada County Judge James Roy Brown; Nevada County Clerk, Julie Stockton; Nevada Circuit Clerk, Carolyn Steed; Nevada County Assessor, Pam Box; and Nevada County Treasure, Karen Cobb for county government.

In the city, those who ran unopposed were: Aldermen, Billy House, Howard Austin, Karen Ward,. Ann Stockton, James Roy Cornelius, and Danny Beavert.

Larry Baker will be the newest addition to the council, who will fill the Ward 1 Position 2 seat. This position became vacant when Dick Bright chose not to seek reelection.

The race for Nevada County Sheriff between Sheriff Steve Otwell and Gary L. Hicks resulted in a victory and another term for Otwell. Hicks received 761 votes while Otwell got 1,241 votes.

However, Otwell will have an opponent in the November General Election, as Mike Mullins filed as an independent.

Gary Lewis ran unopposed for Justice of the Peace District 1. District 3 had two candidates, Danny Miller and Donny McGuire. The votes were 131-129, seemingly allowing Miller to win by two votes.

However, the results were challenged and the ballots recounted Thursday, May 23.

The second count showed different results, according to Davis Benton, chairman of the election commission.

Benton said five ballots were found to have not been put in the tabulator and, therefore, not counted. The result showed McGuire with 134 votes, while Miller received 130.

Running unopposed for district 4 was Curtis Lee Johnson.

District 5 JP position was filled by Bob Cummings. Cummings defeated Tom Corneluis with a vote count of 179-107.

JP for district 7 will be Myrna Waters. Waters defeated Adron Hicks's 50 votes with 146.

Justice of the Peace for District 8 was Arval Mason, and District 9 was George Clary, both running unopposed.

Constables were also elected this election. The Constable for Missouri Township will be Steve Jackson. Jackson defeated his opponents with 454 votes. Michael Goodwin followed behind Jackson with 194 votes leaving Frank Sheets with 135 votes and Gurvis Fore with 117 votes.

Because Jackson garnered more than 50 percent of the votes cast, there will be no runoff election.

In fact, there will be no local runoff elections, though there is one statewide race which will require one.

Danny Martin ran unopposed for Constable of Caney Township.

Constable for Boughton Township will be Thomas Cue Johnson, who also ran unopposed.

The Constable for Emmet Township will be James Osborn. Osborn defeated Tom Hand's 119-49.

Larry Miller defeated Walt Tompkins for Constable of Taylor Township. Miller had 110 votes while Tompkins had 38.

Locally, the position for State Land Commissioner saw Rep. George French. French defeated his opponents Mark Wilcox and Stephen Kavach with 948 votes. Wilcox had 710 votes while Kavach had 173.

However, as this is a statewide race, there will be a runoff for this position as none of the candidates earned more than 50 percent of the votes cast,

Rep. Jim Wood carried Nevada County for the position of State Auditor. Wood defeated Rep. Martha Shoffner's 641 votes with 1,200.

The votes received in Nevada County for other statewide elections were as follows:

The candidate for Democratic governor Jimmie Lou Fisher defeated candidate Joe Holms. Fisher received 959 votes from Nevada County while Holms received 884.

The Republican candidates for Governor were Gov. Mike Huckabee and Doyle Cannady. Huckabee received 59 votes in Nevada County while Cannady received 3.

Democratic Lt. Governor candidates were Kurt Dilday and Ron Sheffield. Sheffield defeated Dilday with votes of 1,410-399.

In the republican race for the 4th Congressional District Jay Dickey defeated David Stearns 59-3.

Republican Senate candidates were Sen. Tim Hutchinson and Rep. Jim Duggar. Hutchinson defeated Duggar in Nevada County 58-4.

Benton said the election commission met and certified the results of all races, thereby making the primary election official.