Story By Donald Campbell
Voters across DeKalb County went to the polls Tuesday for the state primary, ensuring they exercised their say in who they want governing them.
At the local level, voters taking part in the Republican primary cast ballots for who they wanted to see as the next President of the DeKalb County Commission, while those living in districts 3 and 4 selected their district’s representative. Ron Saferite came out on top in the race for commission president, earning 4,544 votes to Brent Rhodes’ 2,194.
“I want to thank all of my supporters for putting their confidence in me. I wouldn’t have gotten here without their support,” Saferite said. “I’ve got big shoes to fill, but I am looking forward to doing my best as Commission President.”
Bowen edging Larry Sanders, 752 to 638. There was a bit more separation in the District 4 race, as Lester Black took the win with 1,246 votes, followed by Reggie Byrum with 739 and Dale Graben with 303.
Bowen said after the results were in, “I humbly would like to thank everyone that voted in the primary Tuesday. I would also like to thank Larry Sanders for the campaign he ran, as it was a clean and fun time for both candidates. Let’s all work together for a better DeKalb County.”
“I want to thank the people of DeKalb County. I have a lot of friends in the county, and I want to thank them for supporting me, working for me. I’m humbled they would do that,” Black said. “To get 54 percent in a race with two well-known opponents, it’s humbling. I want to do the best I can for DeKalb County in another term serving District 4 on the DeKalb County Commission.”
The other eight local GOP races focused on selecting members for the DeKalb County Republican Executive Committee. Two races were held for positions in District 1, with voters choosing Tyler Dalton (887 votes) over David Gulledge (654) and Cindy Holcomb (892 votes) over Lee Davis (646). In District 2, Brent Rhodes (838 votes) came out on top over Terry Harris (697), as did John “Chuck” Ables (1,092 votes) over Melissa Snyder (380), and Chase Buttram (904 votes) over Monica Anderson (492). Lester Black and Arlan Blevins came out the winners in District 4, with Black topping Reggie Byrum in this race as well by a count of 1,404 to 863, while Blevins defeated Regina Huber 1,216 to 898. Lastly, Nick Jones came out the winner for the “at large” seat on the committee, winning 2,797 votes to Jenny Mann’s 1,999 and Blake Sisemore’s 1,652.
In addition to the multitude of local races, both parties presented their candidates for governor, lieutenant governor, and more. Democrat voters in DeKalb County threw their weight behind former senator Doug Jones, giving him 730 votes, followed by 177 for Will Boyd, 79 for Chad “Chig” Martin, 48 for Yolanda Flowers, 18 for Jamel Brown, and 10 for Nathan “Nate” Mathis. In the lieutenant governor race, Phillip Ensler received 612 votes in the county to Darryl Perryman’s 351. It was a tight race in the county to pick the Democrat nominee for the U.S. Senate race, with Mark Wheeler earning 262 votes, Dakarai Larriett taking 259, Kyle Sweetser claiming 253, and Everett Wess receiving 193. Amanda Pusczek was the county winner for Democrat nominee in the Alabama Fourth Congressional District race, receiving 600 votes to Shane Weaver’s 357. The last candidates on the Democrat ballot were in the race for place 1 on the Public Service Commission. In DeKalb County, Jeff Ramsey was the winner with 367 votes, followed by James Gordon with 333, and John Northrop at 253.
Meanwhile, Republican voters in DeKalb County also made sure their voices were heard in the many statewide races. Tommy Tuberville ran away with the governor’s primary in the county, winning 6,290 votes to Ken McFeeters’ 546 and “Alabama” Will Santivasci’s 283. John Wahl came out the county winner in the lieutenant governor’s primary, earning 2,831 votes, followed by Wes Allen with 2,502, Rick Pate with 785, Nicole Wadsworth at 331, Pat Bishop with 147, George Childress with 122, and Stewart Tankersley with 74. Barry Moore was the county winner for the U.S. Senate primary, earning 2,600 votes to Steve Marshall’s 2,065, Jared Hudson’s 1,949, Rodney Walker’s 174, Seth Burton’s 120, Dale Deas, Jr.’s 68, and Morgan Murphy’s 48. Voters presented Robert Aderholt with a significant win in the county, with 5,246 votes cast for him, compared to 1,747 for Tommy Barnes. Jay Mitchell was the county winner in the attorney general primary, pulling 2,517 votes, followed by Katherine Robertson at 2,219 and Pamela Casey with 1,830. Andrew Jones earned 1,308 votes in the primary for District 10 of the state senate, topping Amy Minton’s 545 to win the county. County voters handed Caroleene Dobson a victory in DeKalb, awarding her 3,832 votes, followed by Christopher Horn with 1,428 and Glenda Jackson with 909. Young Boozer took the county in the state treasurer race, topping Steve Lolley with a vote tally of 4,416 to 1,883. Andrew Sorrell was the county winner in the election for state auditor, gathering 4,413 to Derek Chen’s 1,903. With 2,663 votes, Jack Williams won the county in the commissioner of agriculture and industries race, defeating Corey Hill (2,318 votes) and Christina McInnis (1,482). In the Public Service Commission, Place 1 race, Matt Gentry bested Jeremy Oden in DeKalb County, earning 4,364 votes to Oden’s 1,659, while Jim Zeigler took the county in the Public Service Commission Place 2 race, receiving 2,211 votes, followed by Brent Woodall with 1,814, Chris Beeker with 1,424, and Priscilla Andrews with 690. Emily Jones was the county winner in the State Board of Education, District 8 race, collecting 2,779 votes to William Matthews’ 1,746 and Connie Spears’ 1,471.
Along with the candidates up for election, referenda on two proposed amendments to the state constitution were on both party’s ballots. The first of the two amendments added the crimes of “solicitation, attempt, or conspiracy to commit murder,” as well as “shooting or discharging a firearm, explosive, or other weapon into an occupied dwelling, building, railroad locomotive, railroad car, aircraft, automobile, truck, or watercraft” to the list of offenses for which a judge could deny bail to a defendant. The second amendment on the ballot would prevent district attorneys from having their salaries or compensations reduced during their term in office. Voters in DeKalb were supportive of both measures, with Amendment 1 receiving 6,976 “yes” votes to 888 “no” votes, while Amendment 2 got 4,111 “yes” votes to 3,460 “no.”
