There will be a new face on the Lawrence County Commission come January.

Voters Tuesday chose Democrat Douglas E. Malone over incumbent Republican Paul Herrell. With all 84 precincts accounted for, Malone garnered 8,290 votes -- roughly 53 percent of those cast. Herrell collected 7,197 votes, a little more than 46 percent of the votes cast.

Malone made a brief appearance at the courthouse early in the evening, and then waited for results with family and friends at the Ironton City Center.

"I'm dog tired," Malone said. "I spent eight, no, nine hours today walking, talking to people, thanking them for voting. I was careful not to go inside the restricted area at the polling places, but I did thank people for coming. I got nervous when they started calling off the votes. They said two precincts were in and I jumped."

Malone said one of the first things he wants to do when he takes office is have a regularly scheduled meeting to allow people to address the commission with their concerns.

"Probably 300 or 400 people I talked to when I went door-to-door said to me that if I'm elected, they want me to listen to their concerns," Malone said. "The people will be my consultants."

Malone said he thought he could work well with both Democratic Commissioner George Patterson and Republican Commission President Jason Stephens.

Malone complimented Herrell for running a good campaign.

"We both did," Malone said.

Herrell, contacted at his home, declined to give a statement, but did indicate that he believed a recent Ironton Tribune endorsement of Malone affected the election results.