Race is set for sheriff (05/03/06)

Ray Newton will face Mark Barnett in the race for Jay County Sheriff this November.

Newton grabbed a commanding margin of victory in a four-way race for the Republican nomination for sheriff, while Barnett handily won the Democratic nomination in Tuesday’s primary election.

Robert Clamme easily won the Democratic nomination to return to his old job as Jay County Prosecutor, defeating incumbent Brad Burkett.

And incumbent Republican county commissioner Milo Miller Jr., edged out challenger Jack Houck in his bid to stand for a fifth term in office.

“This is the closest one I’ve ever been in,” Miller said, as he thanked voters and family for their support. Miller captured the top vote in 14 of the county’s 21 precincts.

“The next time it’s your turn,” he told Houck at GOP headquarters, saying this would be his last run for the office. “I’m done.”

Incumbent Democrat Gerald Kirby held off a challenge from Ted Champ as the party’s nominee for the District 1 seat on the Jay County Council.

Meanwhile, Republican voters in county council District 2 favored Mike Leonhard over Mary Lu Premer 417-315. And in the District 4 race for county council, the GOP nominated incumbent George Meehan over challenger Vicki Cecil by a 708-250 margin.

The GOP sheriff’s race may have provided the biggest surprise on a rainy election day that saw voter turnout of just 32.35 percent.

Newton dominated a busy field of law enforcement officers to win the nomination with 44.58 percent of the vote.

“I feel good,” said Newton, who defeated the three other Republican candidates, Jay Halstead, Mitch Sutton, and Bob Brown. “It all comes down to now,” he said.

Newton took 19 of the 21 precincts, and in the other two, he tied with his closest opponent, Halstead.

“I’ve wanted to do this for a long time,” Newton told the crowd of supporters made up of many of his family members, explaining he had campaigned a couple of times in the rain. “One lady who answered the door asked me if it was worth walking in the rain for, and I told her, ‘Yes,’” he said.

Final totals showed Newton, a Jay County deputy, with 1,271 votes. Indiana State Police veteran and current Jay School Board member Halstead followed with 755 votes. Deputies Sutton and Bob Brown trailed with 561 and 264 votes respectively.

Democrats gave the nod to Portland police officer Barnett, who is currently Jay County Coroner and has served on the Jay County Council, giving him 822 votes to 579 for deputy Greg Franks.

Barnett, who awaited results at Democratic Party Headquarters, said he had spent most of the day visiting all the precincts in the county.

“My opponent ran a good race and he can be proud of his showing. I have a lot of respect for him,” Barnett said. “Hopefully, those who supported him will support me in the fall.”

Clamme scored one of the biggest victories of the day, racking up almost 63 percent of the vote as he secured the Democratic nomination for prosecutor. Final totals showed him with 943 votes to just 560 for Burkett, the incumbent.

Neither Burkett nor Clamme were to be seen at Democratic Headquarters prior to 8 p.m., and the two did not cross paths.

Burkett entered briefly to shake a few hands and collect the no-longer-needed signs, and left.

“I’m thankful for the voters who came out for me today,” he said. “It’s not often that a person has eight months to prepare for a new job, and I am looking forward to the future and having more time with my family.”

“I will do my best to serve Jay County for the remainder of my term,” Burkett added.

Clamme entered a few moments later and was greeted with applause.

“I appreciate the support and hopefully will represent the Democrats well this fall, he said.” “I didn’t really know what to expect” from the final tally, he added. “Maybe that’s the surprise.”

The Kirby-Champ race for the District 1 county council nomination was somewhat closer, with Kirby getting 271 votes to Ted Champ’s 206.

When the results were in however, Kirby breathed a sigh of relief.

“Obviously I am relieved,” he said. “He ran a very hard but fair campaign, but I feel very gratified that the people stuck with me and I will do everything not to let them down.”

The GOP middle district commissioner’s race was even tighter, with Miller winning the nomination by less than 130 votes. The final tally showed Miller with 1,463 and challenger Jack Houck, a county councilman, with 1,334.

In the race for the Democratic nomination for Richland Township Trustee, David Champ received almost 66 percent of the votes, receiving a total of 317 to 164 for Redkey town council member Dottie Quakenbush.

In the other contested races on the primary ballot, Jay County voters favored Mike Pence over George Holland for the GOP nomination to Congress, picked Barry Welsh over Ralph Spelbring to oppose Pence as the Democratic nominee in the fall, and backed Allen Paul over Bruce Wissel in his successful bid for the GOP nomination for Indiana Senate.

Despite new procedures involving photo IDs for voters, Jay County Clerk Jane Ann Runyon said the election had gone smoothly. “We had a couple of little, minor glitches during the day,” she said. “I’m very please with how things played out.”[[In-content Ad]]