In Nov. 6-12 Issue
By Derek Aaron
Times Journal Reporter

Election Day ended with Sen. Barack Obama becoming the president-elect of the United States, but many other races were decided statewide and in Russell County.

Russell County Clerk Lisha Popplewell said the county's turnout was one of the largest she has ever seen and that she was well pleased with the voting numbers.

She said this election was nearly as large as county elections in terms of people heading to the polls to vote.

"I wish people would come out like this every election," Popplewell said.

In Russell Springs, voters selected six individuals to represent the city on the new Russell Springs City Council. Commission holdovers Timmy Hudson and Ray Barrett will be joined by newcomers Ricky Barnes, Lisa Mann, David C. Blakey and Eric Selby.

Selby is a former city commissioner and served as interim mayor several years ago after the resignation of Brian Walters.

Barnes received the most votes in Russell Springs with 566 votes while incumbent commissioners Wayne Gaskins and Richard Wooldridge were not re-elected to the council.

In Jamestown, the current city council will remain the same for the next two years as Larry Joe Murray, Terry Robertson, David Lawless, Marcelene Taylor, George Ralph Garr and Harold "Frog" Miller were elected to another term.

Murray received the most votes in the council race with 404 votes.

In the 5th District School Board contest, incumbent Harry Kimbler was re-elected to the Russell County Board of Education with 652 votes. Kimbler defeated opponents Mary Ann McDaniel and J.R. Simpson.

Sen. John McCain did win Russell County by a large margin over Obama, 5,579 to 1,569, and won in Kentucky as well. It was a different story nationwide for Obama as he received more than 300 Electoral College votes and a popular vote victory to win the presidency, thus becoming the nation's first African-American president. His vice president will be Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware

In Kentucky's race for United States Senator, longtime Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell was able to stave off Democratic rival Bruce Lunsford in a tight statewide test. McConnell tallied 4,783 votes in Russell County to Lunsford's 2,440.

In the 1st Congressional District, incumbent Ed Whitfield was re-elected for two more years over his Democratic rival Heather Ryan of Paducah.

Unofficial results from the 2008 general election show that more than 1,825,000 people voted in this election statewide, nearing a new record for voter turnout in Kentucky, according to Secretary of State Trey Grayson.

Grayson estimated the turnout percentage to be around 63 percent of Kentucky's 2.9 million registered voters.