Votes were still being counted Tuesday evening at press-time, as several races for elected positions in Union County hung in the balance.
The polls closed at 7:30 p.m. By press-time, votes out of about half of all precincts in Union County had been counted, including all four wards in El Dorado.
In the race for Union County Clerk, Republican candidate Mandi Fudge was listed on the ballot against Democratic candidate Crystal Osgood. Because Osgood dropped out of the race in September, Fudge was the only viable candidate in the race, but she still needed to win a majority of votes to be the county’s next clerk.
As of 9:30 p.m. Tuesday night, Fudge led Osgood in votes, 5,462 to 3,106.
Fudge’s platform included a promise to “bring the County Clerk’s office into the 21st century.” She currently serves as chief deputy and payroll clerk.
A new Union County Circuit Clerk was also decided on Tuesday. Republican Cherry Govan and Democrat Allison Posey faced one another.
At 9:30 p.m., Govan led, with 5,080 votes to Posey’s 3,497.
Posey ran on a platform of transparency and modernizing the circuit clerk’s office. Govan’s platform highlighted customer services and digitizing public records.
Two positions on the Union County Quorum Court were also up for grabs Tuesday.
In the District 6 Justice of the Peace race, incumbent Democrat Cecil Polk led with 379 votes to Republican Catherine Noyes’ 287.
Polk said, if elected, his top priorities for District 6 would be to “put the voters first” and “be very conservative” with taxpayer money. Noyes said if she won the race, her priorities for the district would be to improve roads and build relationships with voters.
Republican Phillip Hamaker faced Independent Bobby Bryan in the District 11 JP race. At 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, Hamaker led with 523 votes to Bryan’s 146 votes.
Hamaker said before the election that his top priority, if elected, would be to improve county roads; he also thinks a rodeo arena for local youth would be positive for the community, he said. Bryan also prioritized roads, along with rural broadband.
This story ran in the Nov. 9, 2022 print edition of the News-Times. Check back for the latest local election results and final vote counts.
This story has been updated from a previous version to correct the party affiliations of the District 11 JP candidates.