Deason, Pirtle In Rusk Sheriff Runoff
By ADAM RUSSELL
Staff Writer
HENDERSON - Rusk County voters will have to wait until April 8 to choose between the incumbent and his remaining challenger in a runoff for sheriff.
Staff Writer
HENDERSON - Rusk County voters will have to wait until April 8 to choose between the incumbent and his remaining challenger in a runoff for sheriff.
With 100 percent of boxes in Rusk County reporting complete, unofficial results, incumbent Glen Deason, 51, finished with 35.8 percent, 1,791 of the 5,009 votes reported.
The challenger, Danny Pirtle, 61, received the most votes during the primary election. He ended the night with 2,309 votes, or 46 percent.
"We're going to regroup," Pirtle said regarding his continuing campaign. "We'll get our supporters together and get back at it and try to win this thing."
Deason could not be reached for comment late Tuesday night.
A minimum of 50 percent of the votes was needed to avoid a runoff. Neither man will be opposed in the general election. The lone Democratic candidate Ricky Turner withdrew due to health concerns.
Challenger Jerry Hays, 57, received 909 votes, 18.2 percent of the vote, ending his bid for sheriff.
Deason narrowly won the 2004 Republican primary, beating the incumbent Rusk County Sheriff James Stroud by 262 votes. He won election in a November landslide versus Turner, his longtime friend, by a 67 to 33 percent margin.
As sheriff, Deason has been embroiled in numerous scandals within his department throughout the past year. In May, former Chief Deputy Dusty Flanagan and former Lt. Johnny Davidson Jr. allegedly assaulted a man who was handcuffed in Flanagan's office. Both Flanagan and Davidson pleaded guilty to the charges over the summer.
Longtime officer Lt. Fred Dunlap, 56, committed suicide in June inside the department's uniform room. A lengthy suicide note indicating Dunlap's knowledge of corruption within the department was found.
In July, former investigator Michael Davis pleaded guilty to insurance fraud and most recently in September former Deputy Kenneth Martin was given 78 months in prison for possession of child pornography.
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