Limestone County Incumbent DA, District 1 commissioner and school board member GOP winners

Erica Smith, The Decatur Daily, Ala.
·3 min read

May 25—Three Limestone County incumbents — District Attorney Brian Jones, District 1 commissioner Daryl Sammet and Board of Education member Ronald Christ Jr. — captured Republican nominations in Tuesday's election, and Derrick Gatlin won the party's spot for the open District 3 commission seat.

However, the race for the Republican nomination in the district judge's race will be decided in a June 21 runoff between appointed incumbent David Puckett, who led the four-candidate race Tuesday, and runner-up Britley Brown.

District 1 commissioner

By winning the Republican nomination, Sammet positioned himself to win his fourth term, second consecutive, as the District 1 commissioner.

"We've got something going for the county and we're going to see it through," Sammet said. "We're going to make the quality of life for the constituents of out district as good as we can make it."

Sammet received 3,025 votes, or 61%. Challenger Bill Boldin received 1,933 votes, or 39%. There is no Democratic challenger in the November general election, meaning Sammet will remain in office barring a successful challenge by an independent or write-in candidate.

District 3 commissioner

Gatlin, a first-time candidate, defeated Jeremiah DiNardo and Matthew Williamson to win the District 3 GOP nomination. Gatlin will face Democratic candidate Stephanie Manning in the Nov. 8 general election.

Gatlin received 59% of the vote. The position has a four-year term and the salary is $65,218 annually.

The seat is open because incumbent Jason Black was running for the state House District 2 seat instead.

Candace Webb a voter at the First Baptist Church precinct in Tanner said voting for a new District 3 commissioner was a family decision.

"We all kind of sat down together and discussed, all six of us, pros and cons, and we all kind of came up with who we were going to vote for, who would cover the things we would like to change," Webb said.

She said some of the issues she would like to see addressed are "taking care of the schools, taking care of the teachers, taking care of roads."

Another voter at the First Baptist precinct, Terry Wallace, said he was basing his vote on who he personally knew and did not have any particular issues in mind when it came to how he would vote.

School board

Christ won the Limestone County Board of Education District 3 GOP nomination by capturing 57.5% of the vote to hold off challenger Johnny Stephens.

The position has a six-year term and has a $6,600 annual salary. There is no Democratic challenger in the Nov. 8 general election.

District attorney

Jones won the Republican nomination for district attorney and positioned himself for a third term by defeating first-time candidate Lucas Beaty, who is a sole practicing attorney. Jones received 52.1% of the vote.

The district attorney serves a six-year term with a $150,000 annual salary. There is no Democrat running in the Nov. 8 general election.

District judge

Puckett received almost 44% of the vote in the four-candidate race Tuesday but needed more than 50% to avoid a runoff.

Brown was the runner-up with 26% of the vote. Challengers Dale Bryant (19.3%) and Jennifer Castro (10.35%) didn't qualify for the runoff.

The position is a six-year term and has a $139,000 annual salary. There is no Democratic challenger in the Nov. 8 general election.

Puckett was appointed to the position by Gov. Kay Ivey in January when former District Judge Matt Huggins was appointed to fill a vacant Circuit Court seat.

—erica.smith@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2460.