Early in the vote counting, the numbers pointed in favor of Kosciusko County middle district commissioner candidate Tony Miller to win the race against his three competitors.

But as more votes were counted, the tide turned and Ron Truex won the Republican primary for commissioner by 752 votes over Miller.

However, while Truex received 2,459 votes, candidate Tony Miller came close with 1,707 votes; George E. Klinger had 1,187 votes; and Herschel Rainwater had 726 votes.

"I've got a lot of respect for anybody who runs for political office," Truex said Tuesday night as the last numbers were being calculated. "It was a lot of miles, a lot of meetings, a lot of sign making. It was a hard two months."

He said he thought all the candidates were qualified individuals. Everywhere he went in the county, he said, he could tell how hard each candidate worked at their campaign.

"Obviously," Miller said today, "I lost." He said it wasn't a tough campaign, but "it was an honest one and straightforward. I want to congratulate Eddie Creighton on his win."

Miller was implying that Truex is stepping into current county commissioner Eddie Creighton's footsteps, since Truex now holds the position at Creighton Brothers that once was Eddie Creighton's and is now vying for Creighton's commissioner seat.

When he was asked how he would overcome the perception that he will vote as Eddie Creighton wants him to, Truex responded, "I don't know how to overcome that perception. I've worked with Eddie for 30 years. I have a lot of the same basic philosophies as Eddie and I'm not sure that following in his footsteps is the worse thing in the world for anyone to do, but I have my own beliefs. I run Creighton Brothers differently than Eddie did and I can look at the situations and deal with them on a basis like I did at work. So, yes, I'm following but I make my decisions now at the company and I'll do the same thing as a commissioner."

But is Truex a "puppet" of Eddie Creighton?

"I would say that I've got a lot of respect for Eddie Creighton and Eddie Creighton has a lot of respect for me and I don't think people will be disappointed in the actions that I do as a commissioner if I get elected this fall," Truex said.

Miller said he is undecided on whether or not he will support Truex or the Democrat candidate in the fall. And if Truex does win in the fall, Miller said, Truex will not serve the way Miller would have served had he been elected.

"The way I take it from his interviews, he's saying the county is flawless," Miller said. He said that's not true at all, that the county does need improvement, but it won't happen under Truex.

As the chosen Republican candidate for middle district county commissioner, Truex will face Democrat candidate Joseph E. Banks III, who received 890 votes in the Democrat race Tuesday, in this fall's general election.

Truex said he will address the fall election race against Banks in the same manner as he ran in the primary. "... I'm going to make the same efforts this fall that I've made now," he said.

Republicans also had a race for the three at-large county council positions. Though it was a tight race, the three Republicans vying for the positions in the fall will be Larry Teghtmeyer (3,551 votes), Thomas Anglin (3,401 votes) and Maurice Beer (3,209 votes). Fourth candidate Kevin McSherry received 2,939 votes.

"I'm very grateful for the support I had," said Teghtmeyer today. "I'm very elated for the support I had."

He said he didn't think it was a tough campaign. Candidates were evaluated on their past experience more than anything else, he said.

As for the race itself, which separated candidates by only a few hundred votes, Teghtmeyer said, "I think it was very close. All four were very formidable candidates. It could have gone either way."

The Republican Clerk of the Circuit Court position was the only other contested county race in this year's primary. Sharon Christner took 58.53 percent of the votes (3,602) to Nanette L. Newland's 41.47 percent (2,552).

"I'm happy about the results and I just hope we can all work together and make the office work very efficiently," said Christner Tuesday night.

Today Newland said, "The voters cast their votes and nominated Sharon in the primary. She's very capable. She has my best wishes for the fall."

Just a day after the primary election, she said, she hasn't given any thought about running for another office. She did say that Christner ran a "very effective" campaign and the county will be served well.

Non-contested primary election winners included Rex L. Reed, Judge of the Circuit Court, 5,986 votes; Stephanie A. Esenwein, county treasurer, 5,557 votes; Larry E. Ladd, county coroner, 5,701 votes; Richard J. Kemper, county surveyor, 5,652 votes; and Brad Jackson, Northern District County Commissioner, 5,374. [[In-content Ad]]