Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Summerville wins runoff; beats Knight 2,143-1,276

Kasey Summerville won Tuesday's run-off election for Clark County assessor, beating incumbent Wanda H. Knight by a vote of 2,143 to 1,276, or 63 percent to 37 percent of the total votes cast.

Summerville was elated at her election victory. She said she is excited about taking office in January and the future plans she has for the office.

While visiting with Summerville on Wednesday she said she was feeling many different emotions. "I feel good. I feel really excited, just a little worn, but we're really excited about it," Summerville said. "We've worked extremely hard and hard work paid off."

She was appreciative of her supporters for their efforts in her campaign.

"First, I want to thank God and I want to thank the people who sacrificed their time and hung in there with me and were right there with me all along. I want to thank those people. I also want to thank the voters."

Summerville had several supporters from the Gurdon area. Many of them met with Summerville in April for a reception at the Gurdon Hoo-Hoo Museum.

Since she has no Republican opponent in the general election in November, Summerville is now the Clark County assessor-elect.

Knight commented on Wednesday that her defeat was not unexpected, given that she trailed Summerville in the May 21 primary election.

"I can't say it was a surprise after the way the votes were divided in the primary," Knight said. "It's not very often that an incumbent gets re-elected if they are in a run-off.

"Obviously, the voters of Clark County decided it was time for a change. I'd like to say that I appreciate those who voted for me and it's been a privilege to serve for 14 years. I'm really proud of the office because it's been totally updated. We've accomplished a lot and I'll be leaving the office and the tax base in great shape."

Clark County Clerk Rhonda Williams said the county had a good voter turn-out in the run-off election, with 3,422 registered voters casting ballots. There are 12,158 registered voters in Clark County. The voter turnout was 28 percent of the total registered voters.

"I think that is pretty good considering they expected statewide that it would be 8 percent to vote," Williams said. "I think that's pretty high for us." She attributed the voter percentage to the Summerville-Wright assessor's race.

She said the run-off election ran smoothly with no major polling place problems reported.