Unless someone files as an Independent or a write-in candidate for the General Election in November, then both Trigg and Todd counties already know who their new Sheriffs will be following Tuesday’s primary.
In Trigg County, Mike Sandbrink faced a tough race against incumbent Sheriff Aaron Acree in a Republican primary. But once the dust settled and the votes were tallied, it showed that 2,573 votes were cast in the race, and Sandbrink received 1,733 of them, in comparison to Acree’s 840. That leaves a clear path to the Sheriff’s Office for Sandbrink, with no opponent in November at this time.
Speaking with WHOP News Wednesday morning, Sandbrink says he’s feeling great looking towards the future, and one of his first priorities when he takes office is to increase transparency and trust with the public by implementing body-cameras on all deputies.
In the other Trigg County races, incumbent Trigg County Judge-Executive Stan Humphries won his bid for re-election in the primary, defeating challenger Sam Carter. He currently has no opponent in the general election. Trigg County Jailer James Hughes has done the same in his race, winning 61 percent of the 2,498 votes cast in that primary, against challenger Troy Belt.
In the district 3 magistrate race in Trigg County, Josh Adams won that race with 59 percent of the votes cast, compared to Jon Goodwin’s 41 percent. In District 4’s race, Trey Lancaster won in the Republican primary with 124 votes, to Greg Goodwin’s 104 votes and John “Rayme” Hopson’s 56. And finally, in the District 5 magistrate race in Trigg County, Republican Jonathan Shemwell won over Ricky Clark in that race.
Todd County also had a race for sheriff decided Tuesday night, as the Republican party their chose Patrick Turner to be the next sheriff. He received 749 votes to Mitch Frazier’s 316 votes, and with no opponent at this time for the November general election, it’s likely he will take office come January.
Turner tells WHOP that he’s ready to hit the ground running to address shortages in manpower that he sees in the department, and also make the office more accessible to the public.
Todd County Jailer was also decided in a Republican primary, with Jeff Penick winning his bid for re-election, if he remains unopposed until November. Penick netted 675 votes to challenge Michael Trimmer’s 366. There was a democratic primary for the Todd Fiscal Court District 4 magistrate seat, and that was won by Cynthia McKinney with 131 votes, compared to William “Pete Cole” Drane’s 57 votes. And then the District 2 magistrate race saw a victory for Brad Fortner in a very close race between him, Curt Boley, Kathy Jo Morgan and Travis Combs.
And Todd County Judge-Executive looks set to keep his seat, after winning the primary with 70 percent of the 1,051 votes case, while challenger Kent Knight claimed 17 percent.
Patrick Turner