(Whitewater Valley)--As has been the trend in recent elections, lots of Wayne County voters cast ballots Tuesday. Nearly twice as many people voted Tuesday in Wayne County as did in all of days of early voting available through the vote center concept. Just shy of 15,000 total votes were cast, representing 35.6% of registered voters. That’s a 43% increase from the presidential primary in 2012.
WAYNE COMMISSIONERS: Wayne County Commissioners Mary Ann Butters and Denny Burns advanced to November’s election Tuesday. Butters defeated challenger Larry Fouche in District 2 59-41 percent, while Burns won District 3 by defeating Carol Study by a 60-40 percent margin.
WAYNE COUNCIL: All three of Wayne County Council’s incumbent Republicans advanced Tuesday, although the race for the third spot was close. Hagerstown’s Chris Beeson got the most votes with Gary Saunders of Economy in second. Richmond’s Rodger Smith edged out Milton’s Beth Leisure by just 47 votes for the final spot.
UNION COUNTY: In Union County, Linda Rosenberger won the race for county treasurer while her husband, Chris, was one of three Republicans picked for county council. He’ll join current Treasurer Bonnie Adams and political newcomer Jeff Adams. Adams was the top overall vote-getter. Union County had a 32.2% voter turnout.
FAYETTE COUNTY: In Fayette County, on the Republican side, Gary Naylor won for county commissioner while Mark Brockman, David Jobe, and Kay Peyton were successful in their bids for county council. On the Democratic side, John Gray and Ellis McQueen won for commissioner while Holly Dunn, Ruby Siler, and Jim Wulff won for county council.