By Lauren Thornton Tobin
Enterprise-Journal
Tim Vanderslice bested a field of four candidates to win the Republican party nomination for Pike County sheriff outright on Tuesday.
Vanderslice had 2,659 (50.47 percent) of the vote — just barely eclipsing the 50 percent-plus-one threshold needed to avoid a runoff.
Gerry Crawford finished runner-up with 1,540 (29 percent), while Phillip O’Brien got 665 votes and Robert McNabb garnered 394.
“I think all of us ran a good, clean race,” said Vanderslice, who is commander of the Southwest Mississippi Narcotics Enforcement Unit. “I want to thank Gerry for a close race, and Robert and Phillip for the work they put into it.”
Vanderslice will take on Summit Police Chief Kenny Cotton, the unopposed Democratic nominee, in the November general election. Incumbent Sheriff Mark Shepherd is leaving office after serving three terms.
Crawford started out strong, winning the first precinct to be announced, St. Mary of the Pines in Chatawa, with 178 votes.
A lot of the race had to do with geography, with Crawford, a retired Mississippi Highway Patrol official who hails from the southern end of the county, mostly carrying ballot boxes there. Vanderslice, who is from the more populous northern part of the county, had enough support there to claim the nomination.
“It all comes down to me being from the southern part of the county and (Tim) from the north,” Crawford said Tuesday night.
While Crawford was counting on votes from the rest of southern Pike County, Vanderslice won at the Osyka City Hall with 203 votes.
Both Vanderslice and Crawford had hopes of taking Magnolia.
Results from the Braswell Educational Complex showed Crawford winning that precinct with 86 votes and Vanderslice getting 48.
But as the night wore on, Vanderslice took the lead, with help from the Pisgah Methodist Church precinct, where he had 304 votes to Crawford’s 139.
Crawford’s supporters began dwindling in the late hours and it appeared that he accepted defeat before the final vote was counted.
“The count is unofficial but Tim ran a good, honest race and I was proud to run with him,” he said.
O’Brien paid a visit to Crawford at the Flying Fish toward the end of the count, and he too seemed to already know what the end result would be.
“The results are solid,” he said. “I’ve probably just been out of politics too long, but I’m really thankful for those who supported me. I will just ease on back into retirement now.”
Vanderslice said at the end of the night that he was thankful for his supporters and those who took the time to go vote.
“There still needs to be a better turnout than we had,” he said. “We have a lot of work to do.”
Crawford and Vanderslice commended everyone running for keeping the race clean.
“I think that’s what you call law enforcement,” he said. “It’s a brotherhood and we all have the same qualifications and experience, and we all have the same ideas.”
Vanderslice said at this point in the election, it shouldn’t be about party affiliation.
“Vote for the best man who can serve the people,” he said.
