The Times-Tribune
CORBIN —
By Samantha Swindler / Managing Editor
As the early results rolled in, family and friends weren’t surprised when Whitley sheriff’s candidate Colan Harrell surged ahead in the polls.
But they were surprised by just how big the numbers were.
Harrell beat incumbent Sheriff Lawrence Hodge by 3-to-1 numbers in some early-reporting precincts, and had 204 votes to Hodge’s 84 in absentee reporting.
The final, unofficial results gave Harrell 4,765 votes (61 percent); Hodge 1,891 votes (25 percent); former sheriff Ancil Carter 816 (10 percent); Billy Rowe 116 votes (2 percent); and Jim Morgan 114 votes (2 percent).
There are no Democratic candidates, so Harrell will presumably take office in January after the November general election.
Listening to the reports over the radio, the announcer called the sheriff’s race a “resounding” victory for Harrell.
“I love the word ‘resounding,’” Harrell said with a laugh.
Harrell won 34 of 36 Whitley precincts. Hodge claimed victory in only the Liberty precinct. Carter won only in his home precinct of Woodbine.
“I was hoping, I was a bit surprised by the numbers, but I was hoping it would be that way,” Harrell said. “I feel like the community has made a decision, a very decisive decision, on what they want, and I’ll deliver it to them.”
Colan listened to the numbers come in with about 40 family members and friends at his mother-in-law’s Williamsburg home. Supporters were confident about a victory early on.
“We feel great. We think he’s going to do a great job,” said Colan Harrell’s brother, Danny Harrell. About an hour after the polls closed, he said, “I expected him to win, I think the margin’s going to be bigger than what we expected.”
Hodge, the incumbent in the race who’s served two terms, has faced scrutiny after a series of state audits found $125,000 missing from his office. Those audits were turned over to the FBI for further investigation.
Hodge also made state headlines when he claimed that approximately 78 guns and undetermined amounts of drug evidence were stolen from his evidence locker inside the Whitley County Courthouse. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives has taken over the investigation of the alleged Dec. 21 burglary, which occurred shortly after a Times-Tribune open records request seeking information on the whereabouts of seized firearms.
“In my opinion, it’s questionable whether it was ever a burglary, very questionable,” Harrell said of the incident.
When asked if he had any plans on which deputies would be remaining with the department in 2011, Harrell said, “Those are decisions I’ll be making before I go in.”
Harrell promised a drug task force for Whitley County and said he would make combating drugs his top priority.
He added that he enjoyed the campaign and looked forward to January.
“We went to a lot of pie auctions, chili dinners, all that stuff,” Harrell said. “My wife and I enjoyed it. We enjoyed being together and we’ve met a lot of good people in the county, and re-kindled a lot of old friendships, and that has been great. I’m just happy with people that have supported me, and I want to thank them and I want to thank the public for making this decision.”
Another county-wide incumbent lost his office Tuesday night — Republican jailer Ken Mobley lost to challenger Les Moses by 3,562 votes to 2,845. The third candidate in the race, Jerry Noe, a Whitley sheriff’s deputy, received 1,145 votes.
There were no Democratic challengers in the jailer’s race, so Moses will presumably take office in January as well. Moses is an employee of Cumberland Falls Highway Water District.
In Whitley County, 9,059 of 25,516 voters (35.5 percent) came out to the polls.
