County Commissioner Herschel Wells Sr., held off fellow Commissioner Kenneth Rogers to stake claim to the Democratic nomination for county executive, while John Shields will seek the office for the second straight election as the Republican nominee.
Wells triumphed over a field of four Democratic opponents, the chief of which was Rogers, who had formerly served as county executive. The final count showed Wells with 2,345 votes. Rogers garnered 1,557 votes while David H. Hill pulled in 669 votes. Bob Warren was able to get 658 while Hackett Lance finished last with 86 votes.
“I’m going to take a little time to enjoy the moment then get back to work in two or three weeks,” Wells said Tuesday night.
Wells will face John Shields who breezed to victory by a count of 278 votes to 153 votes for Danny Orr. Blaine Wilcher ran a write-in campaign but garnered only 90 votes. He chose to run as a write-in candidate so he could keep his County Commission seat in the 4th District.
As for the race this August, Shields hopes his ideas for progress will win voters over. He believes the conservative South is a perfect fit for Republican leadership in the county executive’s office.
“I think if we can elect a Republican county executive then the people of Warren County will see the good ideas we bring and elect more to offices such as county commission.”
Independent candidates Jeff Bottoms and Jonathan Ferrell will also weigh in this August. Independent candidate Stan (Butch) Bullen will also be on the ballot but has indicated he is not actively running for the office.
This year’s race is being run without an incumbent as two-term County Executive John Pelham did not seek reelection.