Filiatreau wins 11-way primary for clerk; jailer, sheriff races set

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette

Tuesday, May 18, 2010, 11 p.m. – The biggest primary race in Nelson County – featuring the largest number of candidates and the most money spent – was that for Nelson County clerk. In that 11-way race for clerk, it was deputy clerk Elaine Filiatreau who notched a decisive win, outpacing her closest primary competitor Phillip Mouser by more than a 2-to-1 margin.

Filiatreau received 2,672 votes, or 33.02 percent of those cast. Phillip Mouser, who spent the most of any clerk candidate during the primary, finished a distant second with 1,237 votes. Following behind Mouser were deputy clerks Jeanette Sidebottom (1,231 votes) and Margaret Neel (1,082 votes).

Filling out the rest of the Democrats in the county clerk primary were: Gena Newton Arnold (406); Marlene Marks Kasama (357); Paul McCoy (352); Neil Boblitt (272); Barbara Chesser (230); Frances Robertson (118); Todd Spalding (112). Col. Michael Masters, who withdrew from the race, received 23 votes.

The Kentucky State Board of Elections reported the voter turnout in Nelson County was 36 percent. The statewide average was 33 percent.

Filiatreau’s campaign for Nelson County clerk focused on building on the level of service now provided by the county clerk’s office under the watchful eye of longtime clerk Phyllis Mattingly. After more than four decades in the clerk's office, Mattingly chose not to run for another term..

NELSON COUNTY SHERIFF. Former U.S. Marshal Rick McCubbin bested Ted Shields by a 2-to-1 margin, 1,372 to 656 votes in the Republican primary for sheriff. Shields. McCubbins won all but three of the county’s 27 precincts.

In the Democratic primary for sheriff, Stephen D. Campbell, former state trooper and currently a deputy sheriff, topped Kenny Downs, 4,401 to 3,472 votes. Campbell will face Rick McCubbin in the November general election.

JAILER. Incumbent Dorcas Figg handily defeated her challenger, Joseph Michael Nalley, 5,699 to 2078 votes in the Democratic primary for jailer. Figg will face Republican Jon Ryan in November. Ryan lost to Figg in the 2006 Democratic primary for jailer.

-30-