County votes lead Halferty, Parrott, Stevenson to victories
Nearly three-quarters of Jasper County's registered voters — 72.87 percent — cast ballots in support of candidates for county offices. A total of 19,579 ballots were cast, with 8,370 of those counted as absentee.
Halferty elected sheriff
Ending with 12,088 votes — 63.58 percent — Democrat John Halferty has been elected sheriff of Jasper County for a four-year term. He beat out Republican Steve Hoffman, who garnered a total of 6,888 votes at 36.23 percent.
Halferty, who was born and raised in Jasper County, has served in law enforcement for nearly 25 years, most recently holding the position of chief deputy since 2000.
"I feel really blessed and I'm truly overwhelmed by the amount of support," Halferty said shortly after election results were finalized Tuesday night, thanking his family, friends and employees. "I'm not going to take it lightly. I'll take it very seriously and continue to work hard in my position and continue to make Jasper County a better place."
Hoffman noted that the evening could have gone better for him, but offered his congratulations to the new sheriff.
"I believe we offered a positive message in this campaign. I laid out my resume to the citizens of Jasper County and they've clearly spoken," Hoffman said of his defeat. "I wish them all the best and God speed."
Parrott elected county auditor
Garnering 61.46 percent of the Jasper County votes with a total of 11,562, Democrat Dennis Parrott once again was elected to the position of county auditor. He ran against newcomer Laurie Nelson, Republican, who received 38.45 percent of the county's votes for a total of 7,233.
"Basically all I just want to say is thanks to all my supporters, my family, my friends, and too bad we couldn't get the votes to pull it off," Nelson said. "But without their help I wouldn't have done as well. I just want to thank everyone who helped me."
Stevenson re-elected for county supervisor
In the closest county race of Election Day, Democrat Denny Stevenson was re-elected as county supervisor. With 10,307 total votes at 54.48 percent of all votes countywide, he beat out Republican Doug Cupples, who mustered up a respectable 8,587 votes for a total of 45.39 percent.
Before absentee ballots were counted, it looked as if Cupples — who had pulled ahead by 403 votes — could be the winner. However, the winner flip-flopped when Stevenson gathered 5,093 absentee votes compared to Cupples' 2,970, giving the current supervisor the edge he needed to stay on the board.
