Commission hopeful Jason Stephens and incumbent George Patterson won enough votes Tuesday night to secure bids for November’s General Election.

Wednesday, March 08, 2000

Commission hopeful Jason Stephens and incumbent George Patterson won enough votes Tuesday night to secure bids for November’s General Election.

Two seats are up for grabs on the county’s highest governing board.

Stephens, a Republican, will face Democrat Ron James, who ran uncontested in the primary, for the seat being vacated by commissioner Bruce Trent.

Patterson, a Democrat, will face Republican Les Boggs, who also ran uncontested for his party’s nomination.

With three candidates, the Republican race became the primary’s most hotly-contested contest. Vote totals included 3,463 for Stephens, 2,198 for Dr. Carl Baker and 1,149 for newcomer Jack Welz.

"I feel it was a decisive victory," Stephens said. "We took 51 percent of the vote, so we did get the majority of the Republicans in a three-way race."

The candidate, who ran unsuccessfully for a commission seat in 1998, credited his victory to an aggressive door-to-door campaign and the voters’ determination to find the right candidate.

"I’m qualified, I will serve the people and I can do the job," Stephens said. "This election shows people in Lawrence County are ready for a change. I’m looking forward to the opportunity."

Now begins the eight-month campaign season, he said.

Former three-time commissioner Dr. Baker took the news of his defeat well.

A death in the family and the flu made the last part of the campaign difficult to work, he said.

"I didn’t do much campaigning anyway, but if I’d gone out and busted my butt working and lost maybe I’d feel upset," he added.

Welz, an Ironton resident, was the first to show up at the courthouse Tuesday night to watch returns.

He is not shocked about his loss, he said.

"I knew I was the underdog going in and I knew I didn’t have the party backing up front," he said. "And I’m disappointed at the support I received from my home area."

Welz said the his commission bid will not be his last political venture.

"I feel there has to be a reason for employment not coming in and I feel I could help with my (contacts) around the state," he said.

The Democrat vote totaled 3,485 for Patterson and 1,394 for first-time challenger Hugh Scott.

Patterson could not be reached for comment. He began taking primary campaign signs down this morning.

Scott said he was thankful for the support he received.

"We’d feel a lot better if we’d won," he said. "But as I told myself, my family and my constituents, if there are important issues at hand, we feel we have to be involved and that’s what we did."

His participation in the race gave voters a choice and they made that choice, Scott added.

"We’ll keep trying."

Although they ran uncontested, Boggs and James secured votes on Tuesday’s ballots – 4,917 for Boggs and 3,856 for James.

They will not run against each other in the General Election.