Of the seven members on the Switzerland County Council, four are elected to represent specific districts in the county and three others are elected “at large”, meaning that they run county wide and can live anywhere in the county.
In Tuesday’s General Election, those three “at large” seats were up for election, and although there were just four candidates vying for the three seats, it was one of the most closely-watched races of the entire election.
Three of the four candidates were incumbents: Democrats Steve Crabtree and Darrell Hansel and Republican John Keeton; and the fourth candidate was Democrat Patrick “Steve” Lyons.
When all of the votes were counted, it was a clean sweep for the Democrats, as Steve Crabtree and Darrell Hansel were returned to office by the voters; and Steve Lyons claimed the third “at large” seat over John Keeton.
Steve Crabtree was the leading vote-getter among the four candidates, finishing with 2,236 voters (26.70-percent). Darrell Hansel finished second overall with 2,178 votes (26.01-percent); and Steve Lyons finished with 2,069 votes (24.71-percent).
John Keeton finished with 1,890 votes (22.57-percent).
Voters were allowed to vote for up to three candidates.
In the four-way race, Steve Crabtree finished first in four precincts: Jefferson I, Jefferson II, Jefferson III, and York; and also tied with Darrell Hansel for the most votes in Craig I.
Darrell Hansel tied for the most votes in Craig I; and was the leading vote getter in Cotton I, Cotton II, and Posey I. He also tied Steve Lyons for the most votes in Pleasant I. That was Steve Lyons lone first place finish.
John Keeton won three precincts: Craig II, Pleasant II, and Posey II; but finished fourth in the other nine precincts in the county.
Steve Crabtree was second in five precincts; third in one; and fourth in one.
Darrell Hansel was second in three precincts; and third in four others.
Steve Lyons was second in two precincts; third in seven precincts; and fourth in two precincts.
The three victors will be sworn in to take office on January 1st, and will serve four year terms.
The other four members of the County Council: Tom Conroy, Mike Jones, Terry Hall, and Donnie Covington, are currently half way through four-year terms.