By J.R. Tidwell / Editor

The general election on Nov. 6 has come and gone, and the local positions here in Chilton County have been decided.

The results remain unofficial for now, with 19 of 20 precincts tallied. The 20th precinct accounts for any provisional ballots left to be counted, but that number is unlikely to affect the outcomes.

Perhaps the most anticipated race on the ballot was to decide the seven members of the Chilton County Board of Education.

Democrat Jacqueline Shields Sullivan was added to the mix along with the seven Republican candidates who received the most votes in the primary: Brian “Bucky” Jackson, Keith Moore, Lori Reynolds Patterson, Pam Plier Price, Angie Maddox Sanderson, Chris Smith and Paula B. Thornton.

Republicans led all local races until about 17 precincts had been counted, when Sullivan overtook Thornton for the last spot on the BOE.

The top seven vote getters, in order, were: Jackson (13,256), Price (11,863), Sanderson (11,291), Patterson (11,142), Moore (10,924), Smith (10,831) and Sullivan (10,333). Sullivan surpassed Thornton by a mere 128 votes.

According to the sample ballot provided by the office of the Alabama secretary of state, the proposed local amendment on the ballot was “relating to Chilton County; proposing an amendment to the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, for those areas of Chilton County outside the corporate limits of any municipality, to authorize the Legislature to establish a procedure by which a dog can be declared dangerous and to provide for a penalty (Proposed by Act 2018-184).”

The amendment was passed by a count of 8,061 “Yes” votes to 4,169 “No” votes.

There were 13,837 ballots counted out of the 19 precincts. Except for Sullivan’s win in the local BOE race, all contested races saw the Republican candidate defeat the Democrat by a wide margin. All four statewide amendments received “Yes” votes in Chilton County.

Sen. Cam Ward received 8,289 votes compared to 1,690 for Jerry McDonald in the race for the District No. 14 position in the state Senate. Ward won the statewide vote as well.

U.S. Rep. Gary Palmer received 11,490 votes in Chilton County compared to 2,191 for opponent Danner Kline. Palmer was re-elected.

Ed Oliver outgained Jeremy “J.J.” Jeffcoat 1,616 to 233 in the race for the District No. 81 position in the state House of Representatives. He won the seat.

Gov. Kay Ivey received 11,283 votes in Chilton County, while Walt Maddox netted just 2,494.

As of the morning of Nov. 7, Ivey had a large lead over Maddox statewide and was projected to win the race.

Incumbent Republicans Will Ainsworth (lieutenant governor), Steve Marshall (attorney general) and John Merrill (secretary of state) also won their races.

Several local races were uncontested, with the winners decided by the primary.