Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Politics Made For Hot Time In Nevada County During '98

Politics in Nevada County kept everyone hopping during 1998 as all county offices were up for grabs.

Former Sheriff Harold Vines was the first to toss his hat in the ring, laying down the gauntlet for the sheriff's race.

Vines had been initially defeated by Sheriff Steve Otwell in 1996.

While Vines made his intentions known early, incumbent Otwell waited a while to formally announce his plans for reelection.

This was also the year the judicial district was split into northern and southern sections, thereby creating two new judgeships and a position for a new prosecuting attorney.

The race for tax assessor saw a pair of newcomers as the incumbent chose not to seek reelection. Judy Westmoreland and Pam Box each announced their intentions for this office.

Sydney DuCharme, county treasurer, was challenged by Karen Cobb for this post.

For the new judge's position, attorneys Duncan Culpepper and Jim Pedigo entered the race early on, with Hope attorney Keith Wood joining in later on.

Another interesting race was on the city side as Mayor Howard Taylor was challenged by political newcomer Ricky Ragsdale.

The hopefuls campaigned long and hard throughout the months leading to the primary, with some of the results a surprise at the end.

DuCharme was upset by Cobb, thereby ending her 14 year career as the county's treasurer.

In a close race, Box managed a narrow win over Westmoreland, 1654-1628.

Sheriff Otwell managed to retain his job by defeating Vines in a hotly contested race.

A runoff was needed to choose the new judge, as Culpepper and Wood managed to obtain more votes than Pedigo, but neither with more than a clear majority.

However, in the runoff, Culpepper pulled off the victory. Culpepper won the election by 254 votes at 2692-2477.

In the mayoral race, the incumbent won every box as Taylor soundly defeated Ragsdale 847-342.

When the general election rolled around in November, the heat moved to Emmet as the mayor's race was hotly contested.

The incumbent, Ottis P. "Chuck" Otwell was challenged by the man he ousted for the office, Dale Booker.

Additionally, Emmet voters decided on an annexation issue. This issue split the town as feelings were strong on both sides.

But, after much animosity during the campaigning season, the annexation measure was narrowly defeated, 135-124.

Booker narrowly defeated Otwell for the mayor's seat at 123-117.

Record voter turnouts were recorded in Emmet and Cale. Emmet saw 67 percent of its registered voters go to the polls, while an astounding 97 percent went from Cale.

In the Cale election, Helen Benton retained her seat on the city council with a 44-22 win over Margaret Barham and Richard Martin beat Ferrell Johnson for a council position, 38-26.