Amos, Burton win primaries

The results of the Montgomery County Primary Election were released the evening of June 4.
For District Three, Bryant Amos was selected as the Republican nominee.
Amos, who received 57 votes, said he believes his truthfulness and recognition of those who have supported him are the main factors that helped him secure the nomination.
“I think it’s the fact that I’ve always told the truth, and I’ve never taken credit for things that I did not do,” he said. “I give the credit to the people who actually did the work.”
Adding on to this statement, Amos took a moment to recognize the individuals who helped him campaign, supported his cause and remained enthused to get him back in office.
Now that Amos has been elected, he said the next order of business is to simply wait and watch.
“Somebody else could run against me as an independent,” he said. “A lot of things can happen between now and then. I hope to just go through the general election and become supervisor and go back to the work that I did for 16 years. That was to try to grow Montgomery County.”
Along with the help from those close to him, Amos also wanted to take a moment to thank the voters for their support.
“I would just like to thank the ones who showed support for me, and especially those that went to bat for me publicly, talking and saying their feelings, and that is what got me elected.”
Randy Cooper, who ran against Amos for this position and received 45 votes, said he is still considering whether to continue running in another direction.
“I’m looking into it,” he said. “Things are limited … I guess my only option would be, if I decide to run, continue to try to run, would be write-in votes only, which is a possibility. It can be done.”
Cooper also said he believes his willingness to voice his opinions and thoughts is something that would be to the benefit of the county. However, the next step for him is deciding which route to take.
“It’s going to be a personal decision with me and my family first,” he said. “And then whether it’s to the benefit of the county to run, which I think it would be.”
Though Cooper said he had hoped for a higher voter turnout, he is appreciative for those who did show their support.
“I’d like to thank the voters that did vote for me,” he said. “And if people would like me to pursue other options, I would sure listen to them and see what they want to say.”
For the Republican nomination in District 5, Alex Burton received 92 votes. Initially, Burton was running against Jill Cooper for the nomination before she withdrew from the race for medical reasons and endorsed Burton. Cooper remained on the ballot and received 15 votes.
Burton said he was pleased that despite the race becoming unopposed, that he received the community support.
“It was nice to see the turnout. Hopefully, we’ll see an even higher turnout in November. We’ll see what that month holds. Sometimes low turnout is pretty typical of a local election.” Burton said,” commented Burton.
Burton said after he declared his candidacy in January, he’s been dedicating his time to attending supervisors meetings and learning as much as he could in other areas, also attending meetings in other county departments. With the nomination now in place, Burton shared his plans for the months leading up to the November election.
“I’m really going to dig in and research so that day one as I step into the position, there’s nor going to be the new process that often happens as you begin a new role, and I can seamlessly transition and I can jump right in without having to really on-board,” said Burton.
Burton also shared that he appreciated all those that voted for him and supported his campaign process.
“It’s nice to see that support from the voters and leading up to November, I want to continue to thank people and hear from people. Ultimately the role of supervisor is to represent a whole group of people within the county. I need that feedback as I step into the role so I know what priorities are at hand, and how people feel about those priorities,” stated Burton.
Jill Cooper also issued a special message to voters in the county.
“After withdrawing from the race due to health reasons, I would like to thank the people who still voted for me. I am sure Alex will do a great job in the role,” Cooper said.
In other local results, Montgomery County Sheriff Jon Spunaugle ran unopposed for the Republican nomination. He received 330 votes. There were five write-ins.
Jill Ozuna secured the Pepublican nomination for Montgomery County Auditor, running unopposed. Ozuna received 308 votes and there were four write-ins.
No candidates were declared for the Democratic or Liberterian nomination locally.
Tom Moore was unopposed for the Republican nomination for State Rep. District 18. Moore received 314 votes.
Zach Nunn was unopposed for the Republican nomination for U.S. Rep. District 3. Nunn received 322 votes.
For the Democratic nomination for U.S. Rep. District 3, Lanon Baucom received 51 votes, and Melissa Vine received 31 votes.