Incumbent Justice of the Peace Cecil Polk, D, will continue to serve on the Union County Quorum Court following Tuesday's General Election, and Republican Phillip Hamaker will join the body as District 11 JP.
Polk, who has served as a Justice of the Peace for nearly 28 years, faced Republican challenger Catherine Noyes in Tuesday's election.
Polk won the race with 520 votes in Noyes' 466. Noyes actually bested Polk in Election Day votes, receiving 254 in her favor to Polk's 226; however, Polk had already pulled ahead by Tuesday after winning 281 early votes and 13 absentee votes to Noyes' 201 early votes and 11 absentee votes.
"I'm glad it turned out the way it did. I feel great about it," Polk said Wednesday afternoon. "Even though I've been on there a long time, I still enjoy the county business and helping the taxpayers."
Polk said that he plans to continue serving his constituents in District 6 to the best of his ability, including those who did not vote for him. Polk was the only Democratic party-affiliated candidate in Union County who won election this year.
"The way I feel: For Union County, that D and R don't mean nothing to me. (The voters) are going to vote for the people who do the job. I'm the same person whether you're a Democrat or Republican," he said. "People evidently thought I'd done a good job and had some trust in me."
He said he's looking forward to continue his work on the Quorum Court at their next meeting on Nov. 17.
"I would like to thank all those people that supported me, and I would also like to say to those that did not support me that I will still be the same and if they need help, I'll help them. I want everybody to know, they're all still citizens to me," he said. "I'm very pleased, pleased to be back on there. I think we've got a great Quorum Court, think we do a great job, hardly ever have any issues that we can't handle. We've got a good Quorum Court and a good county."
District 11
Hamaker, a political newcomer, won the race for the District 11 JP seat by a wide margin over independent Bobby Bryan.
The seat is currently held by Gene Hamaker, Phillip Hamaker's father,who was appointed to the position in May following the resignation of Ross Burton, who had moved to a new home outside of District 11. Gene Hamaker previously represented District 11 as a JP.
Burton ran unopposed to represent District 10 on the Quorum Court, while current District 10 JP Donald Brock won an election to serve as Mayor of Smackover.
Phillip Hamaker received a total of 1,121 votes, according to unofficial General Election results. Of those, 755 came on Election Day; 355 were early votes; and another 11 were absentee votes.
Bryan, meanwhile, won a total of 257 votes, including 186 on Election Day, 69 in early voting and two absentee votes.
Phillip Hamaker said he called it a night early on Tuesday, heading to bed at 8 p.m. and waking up to the results Wednesday morning.
"I'm surprised, really. I really appreciate everyone's support," he said. "I'm going to try to earn the job now."
Cecil Polk
Phillip Hamaker