Incumbents carry county races

Incumbents carry county races

Marconi, Watkins in runoff for JP Dist. 7 seat

news@theeveningtimes.com

Incumbents carried the night in local elections with four out of five incumbent Justices of the Peace claiming victory and only one headed to a runoff.

Vickie Robertson defeated Deborah Farrow in the JP District 1 race 215-188; Tyrone McWright outpolled Shabaka Afrika 162-121 in District 5; Jimmy Fraley scored a decisive win over Dorothy Cooper 300-139 in District 10; and Lorenzo Parker cruised to victory 192-79 over Danny Barlow. Incumbent Ronnie Marconi will head to a runoff against Kyle Watkins for the Justice of the Peace District 7 seat. Watkins edged Marconi 128-127, while John Moore finished third with 60 votes, with the two leading vote-getters falling 30 votes short of securing a victory.

Marconi said he “had some work to do” in his reelection bid and said low turnout in Horsehoe Lake due to the weather may have hurt his totals.

“We didn’t get very many votes out there,” Marconi said. “They normally get 100 at Bond (Marina) and I think today they got like 30. The weather was real bad. And of course I was in a three way race, which makes a difference. But I feel good.”

Watkins was not at the polling place for comment.

In other county races, Terry Hawkins won reelection in a hotly contested race for Circuit Clerk. Hawkins carried the day garnering 2,335-1,965 votes over Lisa Turner.

William “Bill” Wolfe cruised to victory in his reelection bid for County Coroner over Emily Burnett by a 3,229-1,223 margin.

All other county offices were uncontested, including Sheriff Mike Allen, County Judge Woody Wheeless, Assessor Kim Hollowell, County Clerk Paula Brown, Tax Collector Ellen S. Foote, and Treasurer Charles Suiter Jr.

The lone runoff election between Marconi and Watkins will be held three weeks from yesterday, on Tuesday March 22. Only voters in JP District 7 will cast votes in that election.

By Mark Randall