Hodge declares victory in tight commissioner race

By Cheryl Mattix

Republican Robert Hodge nosed out Democrat Sharon Weygand by 328 votes Tuesday.

The margin was enough for Hodge to declare victory at a gathering of his campaign supporters in his office on Route 40 after all 19 precincts reported. “I wanted them (campaign staff) to feel good tonight,” Hodge said. “They worked hard.”

“I know the race is close, but traditionally, absentee ballots are cast in the same proportion as regular ballots,” said Hodge, who feels good about the results.

Tuesday’s voter turnout was 67.3 percent as a steady stream of voters cast ballots during intermittent rain showers that started in the afternoon and continued until the polls closed at 8 p.m.

Hodge, owner of North East Enterprises and RJH Management, says he’s ready to hit the ground running.

“I know this is the first stop in a long journey,” he said of his tentative victory.

Mullin wins county seat

By Cheryl Mattix

Sometimes the second time’s a charm.

Jim Mullin earned a convincing victory Tuesday night in his second bid for a county commissioner seat from the 1st District.

Mullin, a Republican, beat Democrat Pam Bailey, garnering 57 percent of the vote. He earned 20,663 votes to Bailey’s 15,373. Mullin, a real estate appraiser from Earleville, is ready to devote as much time as it takes to the job of county commissioner.

“I feel good right now,” Mullin said while standing among supporters in Delegate Michael Smigiel’s law office in Elkton as the vote tallies came in.

Mullin spent Election Day visiting all the polling places after setting up a couple of tents for campaign workers at two Elkton precincts.

“I was a little worried about how a large turnout might affect the vote totals,” he said.

Mullin ran on a platform of land-use reform and getting the county’s transfer of development rights program off the ground.

He also promises to be a fiscal conservative.