Harrison, who was opposed by challengers Brad Seger and Rich Black, earned a second four-year term in office as a result of Tuesday's win. Harrison, a Republican, has no Democratic challenger in the …
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Harrison, who was opposed by challengers Brad Seger and Rich Black, earned a second four-year term in office as a result of Tuesday's win. Harrison, a Republican, has no Democratic challenger in the Nov. 4 general election. With all 24 precincts reporting, final, unofficial totals showed Harrison with 2,873 votes, or about 70.3 percent of the votes cast. Seger, a former Warren County deputy, came in a distant second with 628 votes (just over 15 percent) and Black finished with 587 votes or about 14 percent. "My first election to the office of sheriff four years ago was the highlight of my career," said Harrison Tuesday night. "But this victory tonight is pretty special to me." Voter turnout was lower than county officials hoped for in a primary that featured a record number of candidates in various races for sheriff and southern and northern district commissioner seats. Only about 26.7 percent of the county's 20,449 registered voters turned out Tuesday. A total of 5,466 votes were cast. County officials had predicted a stronger turnout of between 33 and 36 percent. In the sheriff's race, Seger had waged an aggressive campaign against Harrison, distributing a number of fliers and ads which claimed crime statistics in Warren County had risen during the latter's first four-year term. Tuesday night Harrison called his landslide re-election victory "the voters' way of showing their approval of what I've accomplished in the past four years. "Throughout this campaign, I've tried to maintain my integrity and honesty," he said. "I think I'll let the voters read between the lines on that one." Harrison carried the vote in every precinct within the county. His strongest support came in his home precinct of Lake Sherwood, where he resides. He received 131 of 138 votes cast (94.9 percent) in that precinct. He also received very strong support from several southern Warren County precincts including Dutzow, Concord Hill, Holstein and Marthasville. In those precincts, he got about three of every four votes cast. The county's election result equipment wasn't working properly during much of the first hour and a half after the polls closed at 7 p.m. At around 8:45 p.m., with roughly half the precincts still to report in, a crowd of Harrison well-wishers had gathered around the posted tabulations in the lobby of the courthouse and clapped and cheered as each new precinct's result was posted. "I'm honored and humbled," said Harrison, "and I'm eager to continue the job I started here four years ago. I've worked very hard to earn that vote of confidence from the county residents. "I took my opponents seriously," he added of the campaign, "so I spent a great time of time campaigning, visiting people door-to-door. I think it paid off for me." Harrison said his re-election "validates" what his department has accomplished since he took it over in January of 2005. In that time, he said the sheriff's department has waged an aggressive battle against crimes involving violence against women and children and drugs. "Those will always be high-priority items for this office," Harrison said. Admitting he was glad the long campaign was finally over, Harrison said he would be able to relax for the first time in a while Tuesday night. "A friend once told me there are two ways to run in an election: unopposed or scared," Harrison related. "Well, I wasn't unopposed in this case so I ran scared because I wanted to continue this job so much. "This election was a challenge to both my future and my career," he added. "But it turned out well in the end."