Newton rolls to big victory (11/08/06)

Jay County voters made it clear Tuesday: They want Ray Newton to be their next sheriff.

Voters overwhelmingly favored Newton in a three-way race for sheriff that pitted him against a Portland police officer and an active member of the U.S. Army reserve.

Newton, a sheriff's deputy, received more than 60 percent of the vote, easily toping Democrat Mark Barnett, a former county councilman and currently county coroner who also serves as a Portland police officer. Independent Brian Louth ran a distant third.

Final totals showed Newton with 3,876 votes, Barnett with 2,039, and Louth with 501.

"I'm glad it's over," said Newton Tuesday night at GOP headquarters in Portland. "We worked really hard and it showed."

Barnett prevailed in just two precincts, both in Dunkirk, and there by relatively small margins. Newton, meanwhile, proved to be extremely popular with voters in Wayne Township, taking a remarkable 77.32 percent of the vote in Wayne 6.

Newton jumped to his feet and pumped his fists when the final results were announced and quickly sought out his wife, Cindy, for a robust hug.

"Without her, I wouldn't be here," he said.

He thanked current sheriff Todd Penrod, and former sheriff Kip Robinette for having faith in him when he was hired as a deputy 15 years ago.

"It wasn't meant to be. You do the best you can. I don't know what more I could have done," Barnett said at Democrat headquarters as the totals came in.

Jay voters re-elected Republican Betty St. Myers as county recorder by a vote of 3,437-2,877 over Democratic challenger Linda Heitkamp.

"I'm thinking it's just part of the game. It's been a good, clean race," said Heitkamp. "Best of luck to Betty. I worked hard and did the best I could."

An emotional St. Myers could barely speak when she thanked "all the people that supported me."

The Democrats and Republicans split a pair of contested races for seats on the Jay County Council - including one by a four-vote margin.

Republican George Meehan edged out Democrat Andy Schemenaur Jr. in the District 4 council race 1,079-1,075.

"I knew it was going to be close all the way through," said Schemenaur. "I just knew it was going to be a dog fight in the end. ... George will do a fine job. He's a good man."

Meanwhile Democratic challenger Fredric Bailey, a former county party chairman, unseated incumbent Republican Todd Wickey by a vote of 755-661 in the District 3 race.

"I was kind of surprised. It sure didn't hurt to go door to door," said Bailey.

Redkey and Pennville had town council elections in conjunction with Tuesday's vote.

Democrats Doug Stanley and Charlie Noble were elected to the Redkey council, defeating Republican Jason Rice. Stanley received 241 votes, Noble 200, and Rice 107.

In Pennville, Pat Frazee defeated Christopher Tiedeman 93-73.

A number of candidates for county offices had no opponents on the ballot. Elected without opposition were Brian D. Hutchison, judge of the Jay Circuit Court; Robert Clamme, Jay County prosecutor; Nancy J. Culy, Jay County auditor; Anita Mills, Jay County assessor; Milo Miller Jr., county commissioner from the middle district; Gerald Kirby, Jay County councilman for District 1; and Michael Leonhard, Jay County councilman for District 2.

In contested races for township trustee, two Republicans and two Democrats won.

David L. Champ coasted to an easy re-election in the race for Richland Township trustee. The Democratic incumbent defeated Republican challenger Jodi Lee Ward by a vote of 880-311.

Gary Daniels, Republican incumbent Penn Township trustee, easily defeated Democratic challenger Robbie Ray by a vote of 249-106.

Incumbent Republican Wayne Township trustee James Brewster defeated Democratic challenger Robert Urick 1,621-821.

Democrat Arleen Miller defeated Republican Diane Schmidt 97-76 in the race for Wabash Township trustee.

Unopposed trustee candidates elected Tuesday included Democrat Gordon Kesler in Knox Township, Republican Jerry Monroe in Jefferson Township, Democrat James Isenhart in Greene Township, Republican Paul Pinkerton in Jackson Township, Democrat Robert Lyons in Pike Township, Democrat Carey Brunswick in Bearcreek Township, Republican Scott Hilfiker in Madison Township, and Democrat Amanda Phillips in Noble Township.

The name of Debra Gaskill, Republican candidate for Wayne Township Assessor, was left off the ballot. Gaskill reported the error to Jay County Clerk Jane Ann Runyon Tuesday afternoon. After consulting with state election officials, Runyon determined that the error does not invalidate the election since Gaskill was unopposed.

Several precincts reported lines at various times through the day, including several who kept polls open past 6 p.m. because voters were standing in line waiting to vote at the time the polls were scheduled to close.

Runyon said that workers from several precincts throughout the county requested more voting machines. Runyon plans to ask Jay County Commissioners to purchase more machines prior to the 2008 election cycle.

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CR reporters Mary Ann Lewis and Rachelle Haughn contributed to this report.[[In-content Ad]]For the first time, the Jay School Board election appeared on the November ballot, having been moved from the May primary in an effort to increase voter turnout.

Incumbent Jay Halstead held off a strong challenge by Emily Swartz 2,838-2,571 in the District 3 race.

And in a three-way race in District 5, retired school administrator Larry Paxson was the winner with 2,897 to Ron Laux's 1,939 and 937 votes for Mike Foreman.

"Obviously I'm very pleased with the way the election went," Paxson said this morning as he took a break from removing campaign signs. "It's something I've wanted to do for some time."

Incumbent board members Bryan Alexander and Mike Shannon were unopposed in their districts in the cities of Portland and Dunkirk, respectively.