BOLLINGER COUNTY VOTERS PICK INCUMBENTS

MARBLE HILL -- Jerry Woodfin can pack away his campaign signs and get back to work as a commissioner for Bollinger County.

Woodfin defeated opponent Adrian Shell Tuesday in the Republican primary.

Woodfin earned 434 votes; Shell received 246. All results include absentee votes.

With a victory in the primary race, Woodfin is assured a seat as 1st District associate commissioner of Bollinger County. There is no Democratic candidate for the office.

Woodfin has been a county commissioner for almost two decades.

In the 2nd District commission race, Republican Rod Jetton won the party bid. Jetton received 434 votes.

His opponents John Broshuis and Carl Brune earned 407 and 144 votes, respectively. Both are Bollinger County natives.

Jetton has never been elected to office, but managed field office campaigns for the late U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson. He is co-owner of the Jetton and James Real Estate Co. He ran his campaign on a platform of improving road maintenance and lowering costs by providing better employee training.

Jetton will face Democratic opponent Junior Cook in the November election.

Cook, Democratic incumbent commissioner for the 2nd District, won his primary race against Joyce Long by a 32-vote margin.

Cook received 295 votes; Long received 263 votes.

Both candidates were opponents for the same seat during the 1992 primary election. Cook won that race by a 54-vote margin.

He has been a commissioner for nine years and also serves on the Meadow Heights Board of Education.

In the race for sheriff, incumbent Dan Mesey retained his bid for the Republican nomination by a 39-vote margin. He defeated opponent Dan Hovis for the seat. Mesey received 851 votes; Hovis earned 812.

Mesey was elected in 1991 after serving two years as a special investigator for the Bollinger County Sheriff's Department. He worked in the St. Louis Police Department before moving to Bollinger County.

Democrat Dennis W. Willis will face Mesey in the November election. He received 522 votes and H. Wally Gansmann, his opponent, received 346 votes.

Willis is a former sheriff's deputy and is currently employed as a police officer with the City of Marble Hill.

Other candidates who will not face opposition in the November election include Republican James M. Bollinger, assessor; Democrat Gene Ward, coroner; and Democrat John W. Reilley, surveyor.