Election Day: Democrats take three of four local seats
<span>Despite a constant rain and fall-like conditions, the outlook wasn't as gloomy for the four local candidates who appeared to emerge victorious in Tuesday's general election.</span>
<span>Results are still considered unofficial until all absentee votes with the proper postmark have been counted.</span>
<span>In a hotly-contested race for the Randolph County Sheriff's Office, Democrat challenger Shannon Wolff has tentatively defeated Republican incumbent Mike Hoelscher for the seat of Randolph County sheriff.</span>
<span>"I think there were two good people running for one office and I won," Wolff said. "(Hoelscher) is a good guy and is popular with people and it was just my night.</span>
<span>"There were two good guys running and one of us had to win. I'm just fortunate it was me. I think people are ready for a little bit of a change and I hope to make them proud of their vote."</span>
<span>Hoelscher led Wolff, who is also a deputy sheriff at the department, by 25 votes (4,583 to 4,558) with 36 of 37 precincts reporting - minus absentee and early voting results.</span>
<span>That left Prairie du Rocher as the lone holdout and a long waiting game ensued. Hoelscher took the Prairie du Rocher precinct, but after close to 2,000 absentee and early votes were counted, Wolff emerged with a 179-vote lead.</span>
<span>Hoelscher did not respond to phone and text messages by the Herald Tribune's deadline.</span>
<span>"Being my first time, I kinda went into it blind," Wolff said of how the campaign trail went. "I haven't been involved in politics much and there's a lot of good people in politics.</span>
<span>"Mike ran a good race and didn't say anything bad and I tried to run on the issues."</span>
<span>Republican Ronnie White was the lone member of his party to win election based on Tuesday's results, defeating Democrat Cindy Jones for the open seat of county commissioner. White will replace Terry Moore, who is retiring after 26 years on the board, when he is sworn in on Dec. 1.</span>
<span>"A huge thank you to my family and all those who made investments of time and resources to help in a big way during this election cycle," White said.</span>
<span>White, who is an alderman on the Red Bud City Council, said he will have to give up his seat on the council in order to take his new position.</span>
<span>"Before I announced I was running for commissioner, I asked a gentleman if he wanted the seat," said White, who declined to name the gentleman. "I let the mayor (Tim Lowry) know about that before I announced I was running.</span>
<span>"I talked to the mayor last week and he said he hadn't given it much thought."</span>
<span>White said the city council seat was "by appointment of the mayor and approval by the council" and would come open for election in April.</span>
<span>Republican Stephanee Naeger, who was unsuccessful in her bid to defeat Democratic incumbent Pat Laramore for Randolph County Clerk also offered her thoughts on the 2014 campaign trail.</span>
<span>"I had a really good time with it," Naeger said. "I met a lot of people I wouldn't have met otherwise. I want to stay active in the party and I have plans to run again."</span>
<span>Laramore has been county clerk for the past 12 years and has worked at the Randolph County Courthouse for the past 21.</span>
<span>In the race for county treasurer, Democrat Justin S. Jeffers had the edge over Republican Sheri Zweigart Greene by 115 votes.</span>
<span>Messages left for Jeffers were not immediately returned.</span>
Randolph County Election Results
<p dir="ltr"><span>11,477 ballots cast out of 20,724 eligible voters. Votes in parentheses.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Unofficial Results. Contested local races only.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><strong>County Clerk</strong></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>(R) Stephanee Naeger (5,075): 47.2%</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>(D) Pat Laramore (6,154): 54.8%</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>37 precincts (of 37) reporting</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><strong>County Treasurer</strong></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>(R) Sheri Zweigart Greene (5,511): 49.4%</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>(D) Justin S. Jeffers (5,626): 50.5%</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>37 precincts (of 37) reporting</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><strong>County Sheriff</strong></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>(R) Mike Hoelscher (5,572): 49.4%</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>(D) Shannon Wolff (5,751): 50.7%</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>37 precincts (of 37) reporting</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><strong>County Commissioner</strong></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>(R) Ronnie White (5,895): 53.0%</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>(D) Cindy Jones (5,225): 46.9%</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>37 precincts (of 37) reporting</span></p>