Smith slips by Arms; Reagan wins again;
White, Watson, Boone, Eads retain seats

By THOMAS P. WEAVER
HORIZON Editor

CLAY COUNTY-All five current office-holders who made a bid for re-election against an opponent retained their seats here in this year’s general election, with the race for circuit court clerk being the only one that will see a new face and it turned out to be the closest of three tight ones.

While county clerk Donna Watson, sheriff Brandon Boone, and assessor of property Angie Eads dominated their opponents, a trio made up of county mayor Dale Reagan, general sessions judge Jimmy White, and new circuit court clerk Keshia Smith came out on top in close battles with multiple challengers.

Three other county-wide seats were also on the ballot—those held by register of deeds Brenda Browning, road superintendent Jason Browning, and trustee Charlie Key—but saw no opposition.

Smith tops Arms
in closest contest
Keshia Smith will serve as Clay County’s next circuit court clerk after besting second-place finisher Lori Arms in a four-person race for the vacant office.

Smith only won by 303 votes and did so by claiming four of seven precincts up for grabs for a total of 1,075 (41.99%), compared to Arms’ 772 (30.16%).

The majority of Smith’s winning margin came at Denton’s Crossroads (Moss), where she tallied 298 votes and earned a 190-vote win over Arms. The victor also won Celina, Butlers Landing, and Beech Bethany.

Arms claimed victory at both Pea Ridge and Maple Grove, but only by a combined total of less than 50 votes, while third-place finisher Curtis Rich beat both Smith and Arms in Hermitage Springs.

Rich got a total of 517 votes (20.20%) and 198 of them came in Hermitage Springs, while Winton Dillon received 196 total votes (7.66%).

Reagan fends
off Smith’s run
County mayor Dale Reagan is set to continue his work for another four years, after fending off a good challenge from second-place finisher Jennifer Smith and three other candidates.

Reagan earned his fifth term by a margin of 336 votes over Smith, who received a total of 696 (26.34%), compared to the winning tally of 1,032 (39.06%).

The incumbent, who first took office back in 2006, won all seven precincts and claimed over 40% of the vote in all but three.

Reagan only topped Smith by 30 votes at Hermitage Springs, 27 at Pea Ridge, and by 17 at Celina—which was the closest precinct.

His largest margin of victory came at Maple Grove, where he won 53% of the vote, and he garnered the most votes (266) at Dentons Crossroads.

The five-person race also featured Bruce Rhoton (392), Carol Abney (325), and David Westmoreland (195).

White a victor
over Birdwell
General sessions judge Jimmy White held on to his seat with a 418-vote victory over challenger William Birdwell.

White received 1,510 votes (57.92%), while 1,092 (41.89%) were cast for Birdwell.

Though he won the race by just over 16 percentage points, White didn’t win all the precincts.

Birdwell claimed victory at Butlers Landing, Maple Grove, and Pea Ridge, but only by a combined total of 18 votes.

In contrast, White won big in two of the four precincts he captured and amassed a total margin of 384 in the west end of the county.

The sitting judge beat Birdwell 385-205 at Denton’s Crossroads and 327-123 at Hermitage Springs, while also taking Beech Bethany (+28) and Celina (+24).

Eads, Watson,
Boone win big
Assessor of property Angie Eads, county clerk Donna Watson, and sheriff Brandon Boone all three swept to victory and retained their seats by wide margins.

The trio each claimed close to 70% of the vote in their respective races and earned over 1,800 votes apiece.

Eads claimed 1,803 (68.82%) to beat both Lucus Sherrell (455) and Billy Smith Jr. (361), Watson received 1,835 (69.69%) to surpass Beverly Stewart’s 798 (30.31%), and Boone got 1,850 (70.37%) to top Jeff Gentry’s 776 (29.52%).

Eads, who was appointed to fill the seat vacated by the passing of Billy “Teakettle” Smith, will serve her first term, while Watson and Boone will both begin their fourth.

The trio won all seven of their precincts respectively, with the most votes coming for each at Dentons Crossroads.

The rest get
a good vote
Register of deeds Brenda Browning, road superintendent Jason Browning, and trustee Charlie Key all received a large number of complimentary votes running unopposed in this year’s election.

They each received over 2,000, with Brenda Browning finishing as the top vote-getter (2,270) among all county-wide candidates.

Jason Browning wasn’t far off her pace with 2,251, and Key was on both of their heels with 2,198.

The road superintendent will soon begin his third term, while the register of deeds and trustee will each start their seventh.