BROWNSVILLE – If Malea Meredith Vincent wins November’s Edmonson County judge-executive election against incumbent N.E. Reed, she’ll be the first female judge-executive in the county’s history.

That sits well with Vincent, who won the county’s Democratic primary Tuesday night against James Dean and Doug Moutardier. She received 542 votes, while Moutardier gathered 241 and Dean garnered 127. Reed won the Republican race versus Anthony Madison by 1,576 votes to 1,287.

&#8220I’d like to say to Democrats and Republicans alike, I would love to be their county judge-executive in order to help the county prosper and grow,” Vincent said. &#8220I want to run a very open and positive campaign.”

Vincent was one of a crowd of Edmonson Countians who gathered in the county courthouse in Brownsville on Tuesday night to listen to County Clerk Larry &#8220Butch” Carroll – who won the Democratic primary against Brenda Logsdon Duvall 745 votes to 308 – read off the 10 precincts’ results. Vote totals are unofficial until approved by the state.

Should she be elected, Vincent would like to focus on the county’s infrastructure, funneling more funding to local law enforcement and volunteer fire departments, she said. Her experience with the state Attorney General’s office and local government will help her be a productive judge, she said, and she aims to make changes with money that already exists in the budget rather than raising taxes.

Vincent called Reed, who wasn’t at the courthouse Tuesday night, &#8220a very formidable opponent. I look forward to an exciting race.”

Reed, who’s served three terms as judge-executive, said in a previous interview that he’s worked to improve Edmonson County’s roads, helped develop the industrial park, and oversaw the construction of recreational parks. A county-wide sewer project is on track, he said previously, and he hopes to build a technical and training center in the county as well as a new health department facility.

Meanwhile, Edmonson County Sheriff B.J. Honeycutt will face off against James Bowles, a former deputy, in November’s election. Honeycutt, who at times Tuesday was sweating bullets in a close race against Terry Blanton, won the Republican primary with 1,518 votes to Blanton’s 1,364. Bowles led the Democratic primary with 549 votes to James Holder’s 281.

Honeycutt, sheriff since 1998, said he’ll continue improving the county.

&#8220We’re going to keep doing the fight we’re doing,” he said. &#8220We’re going to keep hammering on these drugs like we’ve been doing, and keep the streets safe for our children.”

In a recent meeting with Tim Coleman, commonwealth’s attorney for Butler, Edmonson, Ohio and Hancock counties, Honeycutt noticed a &#8220good decrease in (drug) activity in the county,” he said. He’ll continue working with the Kentucky State Police, Brownsville Police Department and Barren-Edmonson County Drug Task Force to keep the problem down.

&#8220There’s no reason we can’t make things better,” he said.

After it became clear Tuesday that Honeycutt and Bowles would be going head-to-head in November, Honeycutt congratulated Bowles, saying, &#8220Son, good luck.”

Similarly, Bowles had nothing but praise for Honeycutt.

&#8220B.J. and his family have been great to me,” he said. &#8220I wouldn’t say nothing bad about him.”

If Bowles is elected, he’d like to keep hacking away at the methamphetamine problem before it trickles down to the county’s children, he said. He’d also like to see more deputies on the road around the clock, and to eliminate long wait times when someone calls for help – if he can make it across the county in 30 minutes, he said, there’s no reason a deputy can’t.

Although Bowles works out of town during the week, he plans to spend his Saturdays from now until November &#8220beating on every door in Edmonson County,” he said. &#8220This is a Republican county, so I know going into it I’m on the short end of the stick. There’s great people in this county, and I believe they want a change to take place.”

Of Edmonson County’s 7,611 registered voters – the county has just under 12,000 residents – 53 percent voted by absentee ballot or in person, according to tallies from the county clerk’s office. Voting machine glitches were few and far between, Carroll said.

In other Edmonson County Republican primaries:

• Circuit Clerk: Incumbent Sharon French defeated Andrea King Block by 2,159 votes to 595.
• PVA: Incumbent Benton Cowles defeated John Lindsey by 1,719 votes to 1,060.
• Jailer: Incumbent Bruce Logsdon defeated Walter Webb by 1,473 votes to 1,291.
• Coroner: Incumbent Ed Minyard defeated Rodger Lindsey by 2,009 votes to 712.
• Magistrate 2nd district: Incumbent Willie Lindsey defeated Kevin Ray Lindsey by 331 votes to 194. Lindsey will face Democrat Calvin Durham in November
• Magistrate 3rd district: Incumbent Arthur &#8220Tom” Wilkerson defeated Terry Poteet by 252 votes to 237.

  On the Democratic side, Ralph Neal Sanders won the nomination for 5th District magistrate with 106 votes, defeating Frank Meredith with 51 votes and Wayne Ogoley with 3 votes. Sanders will face Republican Johnny Brooks in November.

• There was no primary for magistrate in the 1st District, where Democrat Arnold D. Graham will face Republican Gary Roberts in the fall. In the 4th District, Republican Charles Rich is unopposed, and in the 6th District, Democrat Kenneth Embry and Republican Neil Vincent will face off in November.