A historic turnout for Marshall County saw locals share the same views with others in the Commonwealth after what was a whirlwind election wound down.
When the dust settled, 16,948 voters turned out to the polls, which out of 25,494 registered voters saw the county have 66.4 percent of eligible citizens cast ballots for national, state and county races.
On the national front, Marshall County heavily favored Republican candidate Donald Trump with 12,322 (73.8 percent) votes to Democrat Hillary Clinton’s 3,672 (22 percent).
Statewide, Republican incumbent Sen. Rand Paul kept his seat with the help of Marshall County, also defeating Jim Gray among Lakes Area residents 10,635 (63.8 percent) votes to the Lexington mayor’s 6,031 (36.2 percent).
Additionally, former Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner James Comer got a little redemption after his nail-biting loss to Matt Bevin in the Republican Gubernatorial primary last year, this time he won in a landslide over Democrat Sam Gaskins for the open U.S. House of Representative District 1 seat after Ed Whitfield retired. In Marshall County, which mirrored state totals, he won the full-term with 11,716 (71.9 percent) votes to 4,579 (28.1 percent) and the unexpired term, which begins immediately, 11,377 (71.44 percent) to 4,549 (28.56 percent).
On the local front, in the race for the 6th District House of Representative’s seat, incumbent Will Coursey (D) carried his home county of Marshall, 8,819 (53.01 percent) to Paula Rush Robinson’s 7,055 (R) (42.41 percent) and David Watson’s (L) 761 (4.57 percent), which lead to an overall victory with leads in Lyon County and Reidland.
City-wide, the Benton and Calvert City Council’s had six spots open for seven individuals on the ballot.
In Benton, Justin Lamb collected 1,360 votes, Sherra Riley 1,266, Stanley ‘Butch’ Holland 1,214, Rita Murray 1,158, Chris Smithmier 1,146 and Charles Edmonds 1,128. Gene Gilliand, who received 1,108 votes, was not elected to the council.
In Calvert City, Kevin Stokes received 755 votes, Gene Colburn 753, Lisa Sills 695, Jeremy Rowe 665, Timothy ‘Tim’ J. Hawkins 595 and Tanara Babcock 379. Neeta Hale, who received 271 votes, was not elected to the council.
Unopposed races included Donald Spindleman, Lyn Henderson, Ronnie Black, Gary Freeman, Donnie Ray Birdsong and Stacey Brewer being elected to the Hardin City Council; Jeff Waters, Donna Perry and Tiffany Carlson were elected to the 1st, 4th and 5th Educational District Marshall County Board of Education respectively; and Tiffany Fralicx Griffith won re-election as the Marshall County Circuit Court Clerk.