Low turnout leads to close Primary Election

By Andrew Powell

“We’ve got the numbers. We’ve got the numbers!”

Those were the magic words Tuesday night as Election Officer Adam Hill pulled the final vote tally and handed the results to McCreary County Court Clerk Jo Kidd.

Kidd had nearly 200 candidates and interested citizens awaiting the results at the McCreary County Courthouse after the closing of the polls on Tuesday night. However, those numbers did not come easily as McCreary County officials were among dozens of counties in the state who had to overcome minor obstacles with a new computerized tallying system before the finals could be delivered.

Just before 10 p.m. on Tuesday, Kidd and election officer Tiffany Montgomery read the final results aloud before the anxious crowd.

“I am hurt. I truly believed I could have won,” said Jimmie W. Greene (R) after the reading of the results. Greene was looking to return to the office he held for 17 years and came very close. He was edged out by current Judge-Executive Blaine Phillips (R) in the Republican Primary by a vote margin of 117.

“This is the absolute finish for me,” Greene added before speaking with a few other candidates in the room dealing with their own losses. Greene said he had no doubt Phillips would prevail in the fall and he would support his work fully over the next four years. The former county leader said Wednesday morning he was relieved and would stay active in his community and in county affairs.

Doug Stephens (R) finished the judge-executive’s race in third with 916 votes, a strong showing he said for his first time seeking a major county office.

“Hopefully four years from now, more people will know who I am and I can give it another go,” Stephens said.

Lenville Maxwell finished the race with 213 votes and Patrick Thrush finished with 170.

Judge Phillips said Wednesday morning he looks forward to the November General Election and was happy the race for judge-executive was conducted in a respectable manner.

“I knew it would be a close race with a former Judge-Executive, an incumbent Judge-Executive, and the rest of the candidates being college educated and worthy men,” Phillips said. “The Republican nomination means a lot to me.”

He will face Democrat Gabriel Jones in the fall.

Young man has his chance while incumbent loses

In the most contested and watched race, “Little” Milford Creekmore II (R) pulled 895 votes to win the Republican nomination. His closest competitor, in a race with 11 other individuals, was Lowell Dolen (R) with 635 votes.

“I got worried for a bit, but I feel real good now,” Creekmore said when it was all over. He had spent most of the day around the courthouse in anticipation of those final numbers. “Now I just have to work as hard for the fall race as I did this Primary.”

The young man got a chance and a his Democratic opponent, Randy Waters, has his chance also after edging current Sheriff Penny Perry by a margin of 453 to 266. The pair will automatically become a trio in the fall election as former Sheriff Roger Stephens has already set forth his intentions to seek that office on the Independent ticket.

Creekmore’s father, Milford I (R), does not have the chance his son does in his hopes to return to the office of coroner. The elder Milford garnered 1,114 votes in the race, but was edged by another young man and current Deputy Coroner, Brandon New (R) with 1,691 votes. New will face Greg Coffey (D), a recent stabbing victim and son of the current Coroner, Teddy Coffey (D), this November.

The elder Coffey has his own race to contend with this fall facing Nathan Nevels (R) for the magisterial position in District 1. Nevels pulled out one of the tightest victories in the entire Primary Election edging Donald Wayne Perry by just five votes.

In other magisterial races, incumbent Roger Phillips (R) will look to maintain his District 2 seat in the fall. He will face Roger Winchester (D), who won a very tight race in that district, just four votes (60-56), over Tim Dixon.

Republican Trennis Wilson will face a former magistrate, Ralph Murphy (D), in November for the District 3 Magisterial seat.

And, Judy Neal Redden (R) has maintained her seat as Magistrate in District 4. There were no Democrats seeking that seat in this Primary. Redden was the first woman to take a magistrate’s position in McCreary County in 1994. This will be her fourth term as magistrate. Although exact confirmation could not be made at press time, Redden’s win could have set a record for that position for consecutive number of terms.

“I appreciate all of the voters and support I have received and thank everyone for the opportunity to continue to serve, ” Redden said last night.

Turnout well below average

The McCreary County District Courtroom may have been packed with those awaiting the word of the results, but polling places throughout the county were much less crowded on Tuesday.

McCreary County Court Clerk Jo Kidd said turnout for countywide elections usually nears 50 percent, it is estimated that only 38 percent of voters came out this time. Kidd said there has been talk among clerks throughout the state this year, a year Kentucky faces one of its largest elections ever, that recent Presidential elections and current state affairs would burden voters.

“That is what I was afraid of after these Presidential elections,” Kidd said, “Whether you think the outcome was good or bad there, it left a bad impression with voters.”

Just prior to Kidd’s statement as she headed from the District Courtroom, back to her office, one disgruntled citizen raced out of the courtroom and proclaimed, “I will not vote anymore.”

“The voters are just disillusioned and fed up and this turnout shows that,” Kidd added. “It is a bad situation. People just think their vote is not important, but if anything, elections like the Presidential election and even this election should show you that every vote is so important.”

Kidd said the November General Election usually plays hosts to roughly the same amount of voters that surfaced during the Primary. She estimates this fall’s election will be no different in terms of turnout.

“It’s really hard to tell, but it won’t be too much longer before we are there,” she said.

Kidd will seek her seventh term as McCreary County Court Clerk this fall. She will face Democrat Steven Waters.

Several other races, such as the PVA and several judicial seats not on the Primary ballot, will appear on that ballot when the General Election arrives on November 7.