Most incumbents fared well in their reelection bids in last night’s primary election.
Russell County Judge-Executive Randy Marcum earned about 60 percent of the vote, defeating challenger Chad Aaron 3,043 – 2,002 to earn a second term in office.
Russell County Sheriff Derek Polston fended off three challengers, earning 2,058 votes to receive a third term as sheriff. Jeff Hancock came in second with 1,822 votes. Corey Meyer earned 955 votes and Nick Bertram earned 298 votes.
County Clerk Patti Glover won a close race to earn a second term. Glover received 2,694 votes compared to 2,411 for Amy Riggins-Melson.
Incumbent magistrates Terry Waddell (District 1), Steve Richardson (District 4) and Larry Skaggs (District 5) were elected to another term.
Waddell earned about 66 percent of the vote to defeat challenger Eric West.
Richardson received 527 votes compared to 396 for Robert Curtis Coppage and 257 for Bobby Dan Williams.
Skaggs was victorious in one of the closest races of the night, defeating challenger Clifton Bunch by just 29 votes. Skaggs received 289 votes compared to 260 for Bunch. Mark Barnett received 142 votes in that race.
There will be one change to the fiscal court though. Marty Kazsuk will be the new magistrate in District 3, defeating incumbent Zach Wilson and Jamison Cooper. Kazsuk received 647 votes, while Wilson received 447 and Cooper received 67.
Greg Hammond earned another term as District 4 constable, defeating challenger John Wayne Grimsley 690-402.
In the District 1 constable race, Travis Lee Bailey came out on top in a tightly-contested race, winning by just 9 votes over Brian Kemp. Bailey received 263 votes and Kemp received 254. Keith Scholl received 198 votes and Sheena Jackson received 88 votes.
In the non-partisan district judge’s race which also includes Wayne and Clinton counties, Athena Cooper Bradshaw was a big winner locally, earning 85 percent of the vote in Russell County. Across the district, Bradshaw earned the most votes with a total of 6,975 votes compared to 4,296 for Tom Simmons and 1,739 for Lee Whittenburg.
As the two candidates finishing with the most votes, Bradshaw and Simmons will face off in the November general election.
In the statewide races for U.S. Senate, Andy Barr carried Russell County with about 66 percent of the vote. Barr earned the Republican Party nomination for the November general election. On the Democrat side, Amy McGrath carried Russell County with 197 votes compared to Charles Booker with 142. Booker won the race statewide to be the Democrat Party nominee for U.S. Senate.
James Comer easily carried Russell County in the race for U.S. House, receiving 89 percent of the vote.
