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Sheriff Koop Unseated
Douglas County Sheriff Gary Koop was soundly defeated in the Republican primary here Tuesday.
Chris Degase jumped out to an early lead as returns came in Tuesday night, and he continued to build on that lead throughout the evening, eventually taking nearly 58 percent of the votes in a three-way race.
Degase racked up 1,837 votes to Koop’s 1,032, with Jeffrey H. Cooper coming in a distant third with 313 votes.
Degase will face independent candidate W.G. “Bill” Rowe in November. With Rowe not on the primary ballot, one can only wonder if his supporters threw their votes to Degase to unseat the incumbent.
Douglas County’s two county commissioners were re-elected over challengers at Tuesday’s election and face no opposition in November.
District 1 Commissioner Richard Mitchell held his office by a narrow 104 vote margin over challenger Clyde Irby.
District 2 Commissioner Danny Dry secured a more comfortable margin over four challengers.
Tina Boyd was elected Douglas County’s first recorder of deeds on Tuesday. Boyd received 1,446 votes to Holly Garner’s 878. Drevis Burke came in a close third with 782 votes.
The recorder’s office is currently combined with that of circuit clerk, but the two will become separate offices on Jan. 1.
In the only other contested county race, Danny Gray was returned to the assessors office with 2,549 votes to challenger Jerry Kyle’s 624.
In the race for state representative of the 144th District, Anthony Kelly was favored in Douglas County, receiving 1,308 votes to 941 for Tony Dugger and 859 for Del Davis. However, Dugger, who currently serves as Wright County clerk, won the district race. He will face Democrat Dennis Chilton in November.
Douglas County voters also favored Sarah Steelman for governor. But statewide, Kenny Hulshof received the Republican nomination and will face Democrat Jay Nixon in November.
A complete tabulation of the contested county races is shown below.
Unofficial Tally For Douglas County Contested Races
(All Republicans)
State Rep. – 144th Dist.
Do. Co. Dist.
Anthony Kelly 1308 2351
Tony Dugger 941 3105
Del Davis 859 2210
Commissioner – Dist. 1
Richard Mitchell 686
Clyde Irby 582
Dwayne E. Nash 316
Commissioner – Dist. 2
Danny Dry 662
Bob Berry 376
Mike Prock 235
Boyd R. Hall 207
Jerry L. Carr 129
Sheriff
Chris Degase 1837
Gary Koop 1032
Jeffrey Cooper 313
Assessor
Danny Gray 2549
Gerald Kyle 624
Recorder of Deeds
Tina Boyd 1446
Holly Garner 878
Drevis Burke 782
Township Races
Benton – Committeewoman
Bonita Stafford 592
Patricia L. Davis 290
Write-In votes 8
Jackson – Committeeman
Fred Follis 49
Christopher Deatherage 20
Jackson – Committeewoman
Joan M. Follis 51
Gloria R. Deatherage 18
Lincoln Committeeman
Loy Heinlein 55
William B. Cardin 24
Write-in votes 2
Lincoln Committeewoman
Jeanne Heinlein 58
Jeanette Cardin 24
McMurtrey Committeeman
Roger Wall 58
Wayne Griswold 38
Write-In votes 1
McMurtrey Committeewoman
Sybil Gheer 67
Susan Griswold 31
Write-In votes 1
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