By Nate Smith, Staff Writer
May 06, 2008 11:44 pm
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SHOALS — All but one incumbent won in Tuesday’s Martin County primary election.
Incumbent Larry Craney for Loogootee School Board was the one left out as 50 percent of registered voters turned out for the election, 78 percent of those voted on a Democratic ballot.
In the Democrat primary, incumbent District 3 commissioner Mike Dant beat Michael Milligan, 1,546 to 1,063. Dant goes on to face Ed Seals in the general election.
See Martin County's Federal, State Totals
See Martin County's Local Race Totals
Dant, who paced the Martin County Courthouse most of the night, said he was happy to win but there is a lot of time between Tuesday and the November elections. There were margins in his district that were too close for his comfort, Dant said.
“Yeah, well the nomination’s always a good thing but there’s a lot of work to do,” Dant said. “That’s very obvious but it was a huge nomination. I appreciate all the voters of Martin County but I have some work to do.”
Two other Democrat incumbents moving on to November are Floyd “Lonnie” Hawkins and Richard Summers. Along with new comer Larry R. Harding, the three will face Republicans Warren Albright and Dale Brown for at-large seats on the Martin County Council.
Summers, who went through a primary four years ago, said waiting for the results was nerve racking.
“It can be,” Summers said.
He felt he would win Tuesday, but there were times he was not sure.
“At first I thought ‘It will be all right,’ but you think ‘Well, is it going to be all right?’” Summers said. “It was good in the end but now we have to go through the fall.”
Hawkins won the primary with 1,953 votes. Summers was in second with 1,877 and Harding had 1,628 votes. The candidate left out was Robin Haulk with 980 votes.
The only other contested primary on the Democrat side was for coroner. Former deputy coroner Mark Franklin bested Dick Howell, 1,588 to 1,106. There is currently no Republican slated to run against Franklin in November.
The only Republican race that was contested was for District 62 State Representative. Brook Tarr took the most votes, 84, from three other candidates. At 7:46 p.m., the Associated Press declared Tarr the GOP winner for the district. She will face incumbent Democrat Sandra Blanton in the general election.
School Boards
The closest race of the night belonged to the Loogootee School Board. Timothy Bradley had a slim nine vote lead over incumbent Craney heading into the final precinct, Perry 1. Bradley bested Craney by 13 in that district to win the second at-large seat on the board.
Incumbent Eric Ackerman received the most votes, 1,150 with Bradley in second with 894. Craney came in third with 872 votes followed by Pace Jenkins with 693 votes.
In Shoals, incumbent Denise Garrett won handily over Diana Turpin for the District 5 seat, 798 to 576. Board members Mary Lou Billings and William J. Shobe Jr. won their unopposed races.
Uncontested
There were several uncontested races in the primary, with some not facing opponents yet in the general election.
For the Democrats, Nancy Steiner won the Auditor’s race, Diana M. Schutte won for treasurer and Paul Sanders won the Surveyor’s race. No Republican is slated for the general election.
In the Republican primary, Kevin Boyd won his District 1 Commissioner’s seat. There is currently no Democrat slated for November.
One contested election for county voters will be for recorder. Republican Gerald D. Montgomery will face Democrat Frances “Cookie” Taylor in the fall.
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