Menu
Jerrod Baugh wins comfortably in three-way sheriff’s race
Garnering nearly 46 percent of the vote in a three-way race, Jerrod Baugh comfortably won the Republican nomination for Putnam County Sheriff on Tuesday.
With 2,063 votes in his favor, Baugh won by more than 500 votes over second-place Dwight Simmons (1,540), who was in turn well ahead of third-place Steve Hibler (887).
Though GOP voters came out strongly in his corner, Baugh was a ball of nerves for much of the evening. He could be found pacing around the outside of the Putnam County Courthouse, avoiding the gathered crowd on the second floor awaiting results.
But as final results were read shortly before 8:30 p.m., he was among his sizable contingent of supporters who erupted in cheers at the news.
“I have to apologize for some of the nerves, I guess, that were showing,” Baugh said. “I’d like to hide them, but I can’t.
With contingents of supporters for most of the county offices scattered around the second floor of the Courthouse, much of the west side was occupied by those in black “Baugh for Sheriff” shirts.
“When I walked up the stairs, I had forgotten how many people had a vested interest or a lot of work in this to get us where we are,” Baugh said. “All the cliches about a team come to mind, but it really is true. When you mount a campaign for something like this for this extended period of time, you ride the roller coaster up and down and the thought processes and everything.”
He noted how draining an 11-month campaign can be, as opposed to the three or four months he spent running against Sheriff Scott Stockton for the nomination in 2018.
“The energy to sustain was definitely multiplied by my volunteers,” Baugh said. “To do something like that by yourself or with just family is almost impossible.”
While he was disappointed in the outcome, Simmons tipped his cap to Baugh.
“It’s not the outcome we wanted, and it’s cliche, but as they say, elections have consequences,” Simmons said. “I’m happy with the kind of support that we’ve had over the last year. I’m happy with how we ran our campaign. I think we kept it middle of the road and clean, and if there was a candidate that I was going to lose to, I would want it to be Jerrod Baugh because unfortunately, not everybody keeps it clean.
“I’m proud of what we accomplished,” he added. “It was a great experience.”
Hibler, who serves as Cloverdale town marshal, was also appreciative to experience what he called a “great campaign” and the support he received.
“We had a lot of great help, met a lot of great people,” Hibler said. “It was quite an adventure just to be able to participate in the American process of an election. I learned a lot of lessons, and we’ll cherish those memories.
“We wish Jerrod the best.”
Simmons, who is a major for the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, also wished Baugh and running mate Tom Sutherlin well, knowing that, should Baugh come out on top in November, they will all be part of the same agency come 2023.
“I’ve been with this agency long enough that I genuinely care about the direction it’s going,’ Simmons said. “I think we’ll be fine, and I wish Jerrod and Tom all the luck in the world. I’m going to go back to work like I always have for 24 years. I’m still a member of this agency, and I’m going to enjoy it.’
While there is currently no Democrat or independent registered in the race, that could change before November, and Baugh is approaching it as such.
“The victory in the primary is just the beginning of the election cycle, and now we move on to the next part of it,” Baugh said. “The victory is great, but the experience is the best part. Guys kept saying, ‘Baugh, you really need to enjoy the experience.’ Being on a state championship football team at South Putnam, I look back on it and it wasn’t the game. It was never the game. It was the experience. It’s been a great experience.
“We sure have enjoyed it,” he continued. “We’re appreciative of not only everybody that worked hard on the campaign, but the people that trusted us enough to give us their vote, to pull out the primary win and now look to the fall and see who our general election contestant is and go from there and see how things progress. This is the beginning, not the end.”