White County Sheriff Jordan Weiss has withstood an inspired effort from challenger Chris Pollard and according to unofficial results will win the White County Republican Primary. White County was the last to turn in numbers in our region not filing until after 10pm Tuesday night while workers spent extra effort to work out some discrepancies with the machines and ensuring all votes were counted correctly. The unofficial totals in the race for White County Sheriff showed Weiss coming in with 1,980 votes to Pollard’s 1,547. We believe there could be as many as 130 mail ballots out that could still come in, but the current margin (280) outpaces any change those ballots could cause.
Other Sheriff races around the region saw Hamilton County incumbent Tracy Lakin hold off challenger Jason Stewart by a 879 – 726 margin. There are still about 115 vote by mail still out, but again, the margin is beyond what those to be counted ballots could alter.
In Gallatin County, the Republican primary was won by James “Nick” Capeheart. He cruised to a win over Scottie Ryan Sauls 820 – 276. That win sets Capeheart in a matchup with another Sauls, T. Scott Sauls, Democrat, in the November General Election.
Dave Severin will hold onto his seat as the 116th District Illinois Representative. With more than 90% of precincts reporting as of 10:30pm, Severin held a commanding 9,683 to 4,233 vote margin that will be more than enough to carry him to victory.
Sarah Emery will take over the Superintendent job for the Regional Office of Education. Over the 9 county area, Emery topped Shain Crank by a 9,395 to 4,664 margin.
Voter turnout in White County was just under 40% with 3,897 ballots cast out of a total possible 9,775. In Edwards County, just under 30% of voters turned out. Over 90% of those 1,275 that did voted in the Republican primary. There are 4,304 registered voters in Edwards County. In Hamilton County where there are 5,536 registered voters, 1,935 total ballots were cast with just under 85% of them being Republican ballots. That puts voter turnout there at less than 35%.