It's official: He's sheriff
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on November 5, 2014 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Sheriff Larry Pierce writes down the numbers from each precinct as his wife, Rita, calls them out at the GOP headquarters Tuesday night. They left shortly after to attend an event at Lane Tree Golf Club with a group of nearly 400 of his supporters.
Lane Tree Golf Club was packed full Tuesday night as well-wishers waited for Sheriff Larry Pierce to arrive.
As the night wore on, questions about Pierce's whereabouts began to ripple through the crowd.
"When's he coming?"
Some felt the incumbent sheriff's race was over long before the official announcement.
Others were just concerned about feeding the crowd.
Then, just before 8:30 p.m., Pierce entered the building to the cheers of a supportive audience.
By 9:50 p.m., the Republican was officially elected as Wayne County's sheriff, beating out Democratic challenger Glenn Barnes by a margin of nearly 10,000 votes.
Pierce was appointed sheriff in February by the Wayne County Board of Commissioners, after the sudden death of county Sheriff Carey Winders. He was tasked with leading the department and preparing to campaign to be officially elected to his seat.
"I'm happy, and it was a very clean campaign," Pierce said. "Each man did what they thought was best."
The priority now, he said, is getting back to work.
I'm not sure I'll be making any drastic changes to the department," Pierce said. "There are some new programs I'll be looking to implement over the next six months or so."
Ann Rowe, who danced with the sheriff as he walked to the front of the room at Lane Tree, said she worked the polls, campaigning for Pierce for the past seven days.
"He's a God-fearing man and I love that about him and that's what made me support him," Ms. Rowe said. "You can just about tell the kind of person someone is when you look at them -- when I look at him I can tell he's just a good man."
For Barnes, the final vote count was not what he was expecting, but added that he appreciated the support of those who cast their ballots for him.
"Obviously I'm disappointed in the way it turned out," Barnes said. "I thought it'd be a lot closer. I wish Sheriff Pierce well and I hope he keeps the needs of the county in mind."
After a long campaign and a tough loss, Barnes said he is looking forward to what's next in his personal life.
"It is what it is and we'll move forward from here and I'll get to spend more time with my grandkids and go back to being John Q. Public," he said.
Nearly 400 people were there to celebrate with Pierce at Lane Tree Golf Club Tuesday -- a turnout Pierce said represents how he campaigned and how he will lead as the county's chief law enforcement officer.
"As you can see it's a broad base of supporters," Pierce said. "It's all genders and all races -- I'm everyone's sheriff."
Pierce's celebration was to be short-lived. It was back to work this morning.
"I'll be at a commissioners meeting because there's a budget I need to get passed," he said.