As the first few precincts were reported Tuesday night, Arden Engelage’s time as Warren County presiding commissioner appeared to be coming to an end. 

However, the votes were there at the end to propel him to another term.

In the closest finish of any local race in Tuesday’s primary election, Engelage edged out challenger Randy Lewis by only 219 votes. Unofficially, Engelage collected 2,167 votes, or 42.66 percent. Lewis received support from 1,948 voters (38.35 percent), while Tom Hoeft finished in a distant third with 965 votes (19 percent).

Engelage won the Republican race and has no opposition in the November election. His second consecutive four-year term will begin in January.

He was relieved once the final figures were released. 

“I think it’s wonderful,” Engelage said. “I am just really happy. It was a tight race. I thought I was going to lose at first, but it turned around. I am very pleased that the voters stood behind me.”

Engelage has been a commissioner since 1996. He spent his first 10 years representing the Southern District before winning his first term as presiding commissioner in 2006.

This was the second race Lewis, a former Southern District commissioner, has lost in a row. After being appointed to fill the opening after Engelage won four years ago, he lost a re-election bid in 2008 to Hubie Kluesner. 

Lewis expressed his disappointment on being on the losing side in the narrow race.

“I thought I had a good race,” he said. “I don’t know if there was anything else I could have done. I knew there was a good chance of winning or somebody else winning.”

Much of the race’s focus centered on the commission’s decision to move forward with plans to build a new administration building on South Highway 47 to house non-court related offices.

Lewis, who had preferred a downtown location when he was a commissioner, and Hoeft opposed the project and said it needed to be delayed. With concerns raised about spending $6 million on the new structure, Engelage argued that the money had been saved up over the years in the capital improvement fund and could only be used for facility improvements. He stressed that the money could not be transferred to the general fund or elsewhere.

Engelage said he is looking forward to remaining in his current office.

“I am pleased the voters stayed with me,” he said. “I will do my best to not let them down.”

Of the 22 voting precincts, Engelage received the most votes in 13 of them. Lewis had more votes in eight precincts, while Hoeft led in one.