SHERIFF LOSES: VOTERS IN MISSISSIPPI COUNTY PICK TURLEY OVER HUTCHESON

CHARLESTON - Mississippi County voters chose Larry Turley over incumbent Sheriff Avery T. Hutcheson in Tuesday's Democratic primary election.

As a result Turley will face Republican Roger Paul Crites in a runoff for sheriff in the November general election. The runoff will be the only countywide race in the election.

Deputy Clerk Cyndi Hensley said unofficial returns showed that Turley garnered 2,519 votes as opposed to 1,825 for Hutcheson. Crites, who was unopposed in the primary, picked up 52 votes, said Hensley.

Hutcheson was not the only county incumbent to lose in the Democratic primary Tuesday; 1st District Associate Commissioner Steve Ledbetter also failed in his re-election bid, losing to challenger Homer D. Oliver.

Oliver received 1,274 votes to Ledbetter's 1,042, she said.

The rest of the county incumbents in Tuesday's primary came up on the winning side.

Second District Commissioner Jim Blumenberg was returned to office with 1,104 votes, said Hensley. His opponent, Chuck Davis, got 924 votes.

Ed DeField, the county's assessor with a tenure reaching back to the start of World War II, defeated a challenge from W.R. "Bill" Thompson 2,875 votes to 1,437. Also, a challenge from Dr. Donald A. Raithel to unseat Ricky Penrod as county coroner fell 882 votes to 3,280.

Hensley said the county had a good voter turnout of 60 percent in the primary.

"It went real smooth," she said. "There wasn't any trouble" or rumors. "It was a very quiet election."