CELINA-The Clay County Commission will have four new faces on it when the September meeting rolls around, and a half-dozen current commissioners will continue to hold office.

It was a given there would be at least three new faces on the commission, as a trio of incumbents chose not to run for re-election. One incumbent who did choose to run went down in defeat, too, paving the way for a fairly traditional turnover on the county’s lawmaking board.

Only Districts 1 and 2 will have both commissioners returning for another four years, with first-district incumbents Bryan Coons and Timmie Scott fending off a challenger and sitting second-district commissioners Denzil Cherry and Parrish Wright running unopposed.

Coons was the first district’s leading vote-getter with 337 and Scott was re-eleted with 308.  They both defeated challenger Gary Hestand, who finished with 259 votes.

Wright got 418 complimentary votes to lead all commission candidates, while Cherry finished with 304.

Incumbent District 3 commissioner Dorothy Burchett-Forney also retained her seat with 317 votes and was the top vote-getter in the district, but not by much.  Challenger Timmy Boles garnered a close 313 votes and knocked off incumbent Anna Ruth Locke, who received 249 votes in the close three-person race.

District 4 results mirrored those of District 3, with one incumbent and a newcomer claiming victory.

Longtime commissioner Winton Young won his re-election bid and was the top vote-getter there with 252, while Paul “Yogi” Boles edged out newcomer Stephanie Van Domelen 200-160 to become the other commissioner in the district.  Young’s fellow incumbent Pam Breeding did not seek re-election.

The final pair of new faces to be seated on the commission came in District 5.  With Daniel Stewart deciding to run for county mayor and the passing of longtime public servant Cecil Langford, both seats were vacant and up for grabs.

The fifth-district race was also the most crowded as four were vying for the two seats.

Elizabeth Boles was the top vote-getter there with 269 and she will join Billy “Cornbread” Maxwell on the commission.  Maxwell’s 238 votes were enough to beat both Judith Cutright (189) and Champ Langford (172).

Vote totals by district (top two from each district take office):

District 1

• Bryan Coons…………….337

• Timmie Scott…………….308

Gary Hestand……………..259

District 2

• Parrish Wright…………418

• Denzil Cherry…………..304

District 3

• Dorothy B. Forney……317

• Timmy Boles…………….313

Anna Ruth Locke………..249

District 4

• Winton Young…………252

• Paul “Yogi” Boles……200

Stephanie Van Domelen……….160

District 5

• Elizabeth Boles………..263

• Billy “Cornbread” Maxwell…………………..295

Judith Cutright…………..189

Champ Langford……….172