Polk County primary commissioner race by precinct
Published 10:01 pm Thursday, March 17, 2016
Johnson only candidate to win all seven precincts
By Leah Justice
leah.justice@tryondailybulletin.com
Polk County Commissioner candidate Jake Johnson (R) was not only the high vote getter for the entire county but was also the only candidate to win all of Polk’s seven precincts.
Johnson received a total of 2,015 votes, according to unofficial results from the Polk County Board of Elections as of Wednesday, March 16. Johnson won a nomination to run for commissioner as a Republican, along with Tommy Melton with 1,756 votes and Myron Yoder with 1,574 votes.
For the Democrats, Penny Padgett was the high vote getter with 1,558 votes and won five of seven precincts. Also winning a nomination to run for commissioner for the Democrats were Rhonda Lewis with 1,473 votes and Russell Mierop with 1,188 votes.
While Johnson came in first in all seven precincts, runner-up Melton came in second in Coopers Gap, Columbus 1, Columbus 2, Saluda, Tryon and White Oak Townships. Melton came in third in Green Creek.
Yoder came in second in Green Creek and placed third in Coopers Gap, Columbus 1, Columbus 2, Tryon and White Oak and came in fifth in Saluda.
John Dennis Hill lost the bid by 364 votes behind Yoder. Hill received a total of 1,210 votes and placed fourth in Columbus 2, Green Creek, Saluda, Tryon and White Oak and fifth in Coopers Gap and Columbus 1.
Josh Denton received 1,134 votes, losing the bid by 440 votes behind Yoder and was 76 votes behind Hill. Denton came in third place in Saluda, fourth place in Coopers Gap and Columbus 1 and fifth place in Columbus 2, Green Creek, Tryon and White Oak.
For the Democrats, Padgett came in first place in Columbus 1, Columbus 2, Saluda, Tryon and White Oak and second place in Coopers Gap and Green Creek.
Lewis won in Coopers Gap and Green Creek and came in second place in Columbus 1, Columbus 2, Saluda, Tryon and White Oak.
Mierop came in third in Columbus 1, Columbus 2, Green Creek and Tryon and came in fourth place in Coopers Gap, Saluda and White Oak Townships.
Kim Pack lost the Democratic bid by 93 votes under Mierop and came in third place in Coopers Gap, Saluda and White Oak and fourth place in Columbus 1, Columbus 2, Green Creek and Tryon. Pack received 1,095 votes.
The Polk County Board of Elections will canvass the votes on Tuesday, March 22 when the votes will become official.
The general election will be on Tuesday, Nov. 8 where Polk voters will select three out of six candidates for the Polk County Board of Commissioners.
See a breakdown of the commissioner race by precinct below.
Democratic candidates for Polk County Commissioner
Padgett Lewis Mierop Pack
Coopers Gap 76 79 56 64
Columbus 1 231 225 191 168
Columbus 2 237 225 178 153
Green Creek 236 241 215 142
Saluda 167 150 107 128
Tryon 472 430 342 339
White Oak 139 123 99 101
Totals: 1,558 1,473 1,188 1,095
Republican candidates for Polk County Commissioner
Johnson Melton Yoder Hill Denton
Coopers Gap 233 191 153 109 147
Columbus 1 275 248 224 171 173
Columbus 2 434 381 355 238 194
Green Creek 331 273 320 214 199
Saluda 222 182 106 112 119
Tryon 326 295 274 232 181
White Oak 194 186 142 134 121
Totals: 2,015 1,756 1,574 1,210 1,134