Sheriff to “start back to work tomorrow morning for the next four years”
By Kevin Spradlin
PeeDeePost.com
ROCKINGHAM — It might simply have been a case of two qualified law enforcement officers vying for the same job.
And if that was the case, then change was hardly required.
Kevin Spradlin | PeeDeePost.com
Campaign volunteers raise their hands in show of support of Richmond County Sheriff James Clemmons Jr.
Richmond County voters said on Tuesday that change wasn’t necessary and they chose to keep Sheriff James Clemmons Jr. in office for a second four-year term. Clemmons and dozens of supporters gathered inside the R.W. Goodman building in downtown Rockingham to celebrate the results.
Clemmons garnered 68 percent of the vote, or 8,772 to the 4,126 votes that were cast in favor of Republican challenger Bo Frye.
“It’s been a long, long year,” said Clemmons, who thanked his many supporters but also took the re-election as a challenge from those who didn’t vote for him.
It is, he said, “a second opportunity to convince them. I will give you my all. I will not shame the title of Richmond County sheriff.”
Clemmons alluded to the struggles of the deputies who work with him each day and rumors that, had Frye been elected, many would face termination. True or not, it was a stress they had to bear throughout the election cycle.
The deputies, he said, can now “get a good night’s sleep.”
Kevin Spradlin | PeeDeePost.com
Sheriff James Clemmons Jr. embraces Vickie Daniel. Clemmons retains his seat and Daniel ran unopposed in the general election and will continue as Richmond County Clerk of Court.
Among the many other campaign supporters, Clemmons thanks his son, James, who has chosen to enter the U.S. Air Force on Dec. 16.
