Commission Chairman Ray Long and his wife, Regina, and Commissioner Greg Abercrombie congratulate Saronda and Randy Vest after the results were finalized last week. | Randy Garrison

Incumbent defeats Halbrooks in close race, unopposed in November

Incumbent Randy Vest narrowly defeated Tommy Halbrooks to win re-election to Morgan County Commission District 2.

The lead seesawed back and forth between Vest and Halbrooks much of the night before the last three boxes put him over the top. Vest finished with 4,139 votes while Halbrooks had 3,867.

Vest is unopposed in the November general election. This will be his second term on the county commission.

Vest said he was very excited to win the Republican run-off.

“We are so thankful for everyone that supported us throughout this election,” Vest said. “We’re just overwhelmed by the support that we’ve received this year. We look forward to serving the residents of District 3 for four more years.”

Vest said there were moments that they were getting concerned as the results were coming in.

“It was very close,” Vest said. “We didn’t know we were going to win until the very last box came in and that was the Neel box.”

Halbrooks said he is pleased with the way the election went other than the outcome.

“We lasted six weeks longer than I thought we could going into this,” Halbrooks said.

Halbrooks thanked all of his supporters throughout the election.

“It was a great campaign for us,” Halbrooks said. “We did a lot better than I thought we would. Maybe my expectations were a little lower than they should have been, but it has been a great experience for us. I appreciate everyone who came out and supported us over the campaign. We came close to winning tonight.”

Vest said he has a number of projects to work on over the next four years.

Vest faced numerous challengers during the primary election in June, with Halbrooks and Vest being the top of the race.

The general election will be held in November.