On Jan. 1, 2019, a new Columbia County Clerk and Tax Collector will be sworn into office.
Tammy J. Wiltz and Rachel Waller gathered more votes than their challengers during Tuesday’s 2018 Republican Primary Election. Wiltz picked up 101 more votes (961 to 860) than opponent Jan Loe-Glover in the county clerk’s race, while Waller ran away with tax collector’s race by a margin of 1,369 votes to 452 for Shamekia Roy.
Neither will have an opponent in the November’s General Election because no Democrat or any other candidate filed for the positions.
In the Columbia County’s Circuit Clerk’s race, Angela Wilson-Keith got past Devona Powell by a vote count of 984 to 822. She will be opposed by Democrat Lynsandra Curry in November.
“I am over the moon. I’m looking forward to taking over when Sherry (Bell) leaves office,” said Wiltz, who fought to hold back her emotions. “I had a lot of support and the Republican committee took me in. It’s just amazing how people took me in. I had a great opponent, but I believe my platform of time and experience are what mattered to the voters.”
A teary-eyed Wilson-Keith thanked God first and then others who played a role in her campaign.
“I am estatic. My family and friends supported me. I thank the Columbia County citizens for voting and I just can’t tell you how overwhelm I am right now,” said Wilson-Keith.
She felt the race between her and Powell would be close, but “I didn’t know exactly how close.” Only 162 votes separated the two.
“Also, I like to thank Janice Linkous for hiring me back in 1997 and having faith that I would be able to do this job. Now, I have to gear up for another election,” she said.
Wiltz, Wilson-Keith and Waller led from the start to finish, never reliquishing the lead.
The early voting/absentee ballots were announced at 7:58 p.m. Over the next 37 minutes, polling sites that followed were American Legion, Waldo City Hall, Columbia County Library, McNeil City Hall; Taylor City Hall and Emerson Community Center.
In the three contested Columbia County Justices of the Peace races in the Republican Primary, Ricky Waller defeated Billy Wayne Taylor, 143 to 28 in District 5; Steve Lee got past Dewayne Snider 180 to 157 in District 6; and Burnie Sharp defeated Sid Cawyer 89 to 56 in District 9.
In a contested Taylor District 7 Constable race on the Republican ticket, Ricky J. Wyrick had 37 votes to only 9 for Ronnie Bristow.
Also in the Republican Primary, Rep. Bruce Westerman carried Columbia County over Randy Caldwell by a count of 1,563 to 227; Gov. Asa Hutchinson had little trouble getting past challenger Jan Morgan 1,378 to 451; and State Land Commissioner John Thurston defeated State Rep. Trevor Drown 1,036 to 699.
There were no contested local races in the Democratic Primary, but Jared Henderson sneaked past Leticia Sanders 156 to 137 to carry the county in the governor’s race.
On the Nonpartisan Primary ticket for State Supreme Court Associate Justice, incumbent Courtney Goodson had 816 votes; David Sterling, 616; and Judge Kenneth Hixon, 608.
Though neither were contested, William Watson picked up 258 votes for the Magnolia School Board and Mary Dianne Robinson had 24 for the Emerson-Taylor-Bradley (ETB) School District Board.
The school district’s two millages were also on the ballot, but neither were seeking an increase and the final vote won’t affect their current rates. A total of 1,004 citizens voted against Magnolia’s 33.0 mills compared to 912 in favor of the current rate. ETB’s current rate of 37.4 mills had 136 votes in favor and 75 against.
Polling centers throughout Columbia County opened at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday and closed 12 hours later at 7:30 p.m. Early voting started May 7 and ended at 5 p.m. Monday inside the Columbia County Courthouse.
Overall, only 2,105 of Columbia County’s 11,639 registered voters residents cast ballots in Tuesday’s election.