Lexington, SC (Paul Kirby) – This story was updated at 6:20 a.m. Wednesday morning. There were no significant changes in the way the races fell.
In the race for the critical job of sheriff of Lexington County, the voters voiced their support for Sheriff Jay Koon who is completing his first full four-year term. He soundly defeated challenger David Arnold who had invested a great deal of time, money, and work, in his effort to unseat Koon.
Voters stuck with Sheriff Koon in a race that had many wondering if this would be close until the final vote was counted. In the end, Koon prevailed with a whopping 26,296 citizen’s casting their votes for him while Arnold tallied just 11,160 votes in his effort to unseat Koon. These totals were as of 6:20 a.m. Wednesday.
Sheriff Koon is a straight arrow and usually sees things as black and white. He’s a real by the book man that loves to police, not politic. He says the citizens are the department’s customers and customer service is their objective. Now, thanks to the voters of Lexington County, he’ll have four more years to prove that he is worthy of their trust.
Perhaps Sheriff Koon received a message from the voters Tuesday who voted Arnolds way. The question will be what that message was. Did he hear a need to make some adjustments to do more for the citizens in areas that supported Arnold, or was it most voters are behind him 100%? Either way after an election, any smart politician and leader should closely analyze each precinct to see where people think there’s room for some improvement, and what each area's saying. Are they saying, “There’s room some improvement here," or,"Stay the course and full steam ahead!”
Koon said late Tuesday that he was humbled by the support he was shown in this race. “I am thankful for the trust and support of the citizens of Lexington County and appreciate their trust. My team and I look forward to doing a great job for them in the years to come.”
