Published: April 09, 2008 02:07 am            

County, state races decided in primary runoff

Dickson clinches GOP precinct 3 commissioner win

PALESTINE — Moments after the result of Tuesday’s Republican runoff for Anderson County precinct 3 commissioner had become final, Kenneth Dickson said he would take a break following two elections in a 35-day span.

But not for long.

“I definitely want to keep the momentum going,” said Dickson, who easily defeated sitting commissioner Ronny Smith by more than a 3-to-2 margin in the runoff. “I’m excited that I’ve got some support out there and I want to keep that going through November.”

Dickson ended up with 402 votes — or 63 percent of the total vote — in Tuesday’s runoff election, compared to 236 — or 37 percent — for the incumbent Smith.

Dickson will now meet unopposed Democrat Rush Herrington in the Nov. 4 general election.

Dickson carried six of seven boxes Tuesday, with Smith only getting more votes in his home box of Frankston (135-64). The victor, however, out-polled the incumbent by an astounding 110-6 margin on his home turf of Neches.

In last month’s tightly-contested, three-way primary, Smith had finished with 537 votes, compared to 486 for Dickson and 455 for Van Brown who ran a close third and failed to qualify for the runoff.

With both the second- and third-place finisher in the initial race, however, being from Neches, Dickson likely picked up some of Brown’s votes this time around.

“I feel like I pretty much got most of his support from Neches just because most people were split between us before,” Dickson stated.

Smith was gracious in defeat, saying he would support Dickson in the general election.

“I wish Kenneth the best of everything,” Smith said. “The people have spoken. I’ll give him all my support this fall.”

Smith’s term does not expire until Dec. 31. He pledged to continue to work for the county’s residents.

“I’ll continue to serve to the best of my ability,” Smith said. “The people of Anderson County, I appreciate everything they’ve done for me. I’ve met a lot of good people the last four years and I hope we continue to have a good commissioner’s court.”

A complaint filed with the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office between the two elections possibly hurt Smith. Authorities continue to investigate claims that Smith committed an offense when he had a precinct 3 road & bridge crew haul dirt from a road construction project to property owned by him inside the Frankston city limits.

Smith has downplayed the situation, referring to the dirt as “junk dirt” with no monetary value.

The commissioner admitted the ongoing investigation, which could conclude later this month, possibly affected his campaign.

“It may have some — the adverse publicity,” Smith said. “A lot of people I’ve talked to realize it’s just political.”

Dickson indicated he was uncertain whether the allegation hurt his opponent in the race, but stressed he had no role in the complaint.

“I really don’t know if it helped or hurt either one,” Dickson said. “I just want people to know I didn’t have anything to do with it. I learned about it like everybody else.

“I appreciate the race that Ronny Smith ran,” he continued. “He ran a good, clean race and I just want to thank him for that.”

The Dickson-Smith race was the lone Republican race on the ballot in Anderson County.

Local Democrats only had a statewide race on their ballot, helping decide their party’s nominee for railroad commissioner. Fifty-five Anderson County residents voted in that race, with 31 ballots cast for Dale Henry and the other 24 for Mark Thompson.

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Paul Stone may be contacted via e-mail at pstone@palestineherald.com

        

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