Herndon takes win Tuesday

Sandy Carter Herndon pulled out a close win in the second primary election for the Republican nomination for county commissioner, unofficial totals show.

Herndon, an incumbent commissioner who is seeking her second term, edged William W. "Bill" Caudill by 44 votes in the run off election with about 276 turning out at the polls overall. All told, Herndon had a total of 160 votes and Caudill had 116 votes, which equates to 58 percent of the vote for Herndon and 42 percent for Caudill.

Herndon now joins fellow Republicans Eldon Edwards and Doug Murphy in vying for three seats on the commission this fall. They will face Democrats Milly Richardson, Gary Mabe and Randy Miller.

Caudill carried four of the county's precincts on election day, including Piney Creek, Whitehead, Glade Creek and Cranberry. Caudill had nine votes in Piney to Herndon's seven; 14 in Whitehead to Herndon's three; 22 in Glade Creek to Herndon's eight; and seven in Cranberry to Herndon's six.

However, the one-stop and absentee voters strongly supported Herndon, as well as election day voters in Gap Civil, Cherry Lane and Prathers Creek. In Gap Civil, Herndon had 24 votes to Caudill's 16; in Cherry Lane she took 24 votes to his 19; and in Prathers Creek she took 17 votes to Caudill's nine. Herndon's main edge was in early voting: she took four of five paper absentee votes.

Get the rest of this article in this week's issue of the Alleghany News! Back