FAIRFIELD COUNTY – In two closely watched local campaigns in the Fairfield County Democratic primary, Sheriff Will Montgomery was re-elected to a fourth term as Fairfield County Sheriff, and Dorothy Boyd Belton was elected Fairfield County Clerk of Court. Neither Montgomery nor Belton have opponents in the November election.
On the state level, Chester Attorney Everett Stubbs handily won the Republican Primary, taking 3 out of 4 counties to become the Republican nominee for the run for the State Senate, Dist. 17 seat in November.
Montgomery
Sheriff Will Montgomery was re-elected with 1,821 votes (55.02 percent) over Rick Gibson who had 1,358 votes (41.03 percent). Wallace Coleman received 131 votes (3.96 percent).
Montgomery said he is grateful for the win.
“I want to thank my family and friends and all those in Fairfield County who came out to support me in this election,” Montgomery said following the vote count. “I appreciate your votes and your support very much.”
Montgomery is a third-generation sheriff for the county following his father and grandfather who also held the office. Montgomery was first elected in 2014 to complete the last two years of the term vacated by former Sheriff Herman Young when he retired for health reasons.
Belton
Dorothy Boyd Belton captured the Fairfield County Clerk of Court seat with 1,907 votes (57.80 percent) over Christon Gaddy who received 1,387 votes (42.11 percent).
Contacted by The Voice, Belton said she would make a statement at a later time. Her campaign literature states that she has “20 years managing law office operations and cash flow”, and was a “contract paralegal with Midlands Virtual Paralegal Outsourcing Services.”
Fairfield County had a 25.77 percent turnout of its 15,771 registered voters.
Senate Race
In a three-way race in the Republican primary for the Dist. 17 Senate seat, Attorney Everett Stubbs was victorious with 3,917 votes (58.1 percent) over a four-county area. Tripp McCoy received 1,712 votes (25.42 percent), and Tibi Czentye received 1,105 votes (16.41 percent).
Breaking the vote down by counties, Stubbs won Fairfield County with 41.17 percent of the vote, Chester with 73.94 percent, and York with 54.68 percent. McCoy took his home county Lancaster with 43 percent of the vote.
“We are thrilled to have been chosen by the people of Senate Dist. 17 to be the Republican nominee for the general election this fall,” Stubbs said about his victory. “I owe a special thanks to my family and friends for their love and support in helping us to be successful in this race. I also want to congratulate Tibi and Tripp on running great campaigns. I believe both are good men who were seeking this nomination for honorable reasons. We look forward to taking a couple of weeks off, then getting back to work for the general election in November.”
Stubbs will be challenging Democratic Senator Mike Fanning for the Dist. 17 seat in November.
This story was updated June 12, 2024 at 6:01 p.m.
