Oliver, Potter and Hayse move on

Russellville Police Capt. Shannon Oliver and his wife, Tange, congratulate Phil Campbell Police Sgt. Terrell Potter following Tuesday night’s election returns. Oliver and Potter will square off in the sheriff’s race run-off on July 13. | Jonathan Willis/FCT

The race for Franklin County sheriff was more than cut in half Tuesday.

Two men, Phil Campbell Police Sgt. Terrell Potter and Russellville Police Capt. Shannon Oliver, emerged as the top two vote getters in the Democratic primary.

Leighton Police Chief Ray Hayse defeated Glen Demastus to capture the Republican Party’s nomination for November’s general election.

Oliver paced the Democratic candidates by capturing 2,280 votes. He garnered 214 more votes than Potter’s 2,066.

Red Bay Police Investigator Mike Franklin received 1,486 votes, followed by former Russellville Assistant Police Chief Robert Pace’s 643 votes and Russellville businessman Scott Seal’s 406 votes.

In the Republican primary, Hayse won 524 votes to 361.

“I think people are ready for a change,” Hayse said.

“They are ready for fresh ideas and somebody that’s going to get out and beat the roads like an officer instead of just talking about it. I am not a politician, I am a cop. I think I would bring fresh new ideas to the office.”

Hayse will have to wait six more weeks before he knows who he will be running against in November.

“It’s going to be a long six weeks,” Potter said.

“There are a lot of voters who supported the other candidates, so we will be going out working hard to get our message out to those people.”

Both candidates said they would be reaching out to supporters of Franklin, Pace and Seal.

Russellville Police Capt. Shannon Oliver speaks with Red Bay Investigator Mike Franklin following Tuesday night’s election returns in the sheriff’s race. | Jonathan Willis/FCT

“First of all, I want to thank all the people that supported me,” Oliver said.

“And I would like to ask those who voted for one of the other candidates, to support me in the runoff. It was a good, clean race and all the candidates brought something different to the table. I am excited to be the leading vote getter and I hope my people get out to vote in the runoff.”

Potter said that he would stick to the same issues for the primary.

“We will take our message to the people again,” he said. I believe that communication in the community is a problem and we will tackle the battle on drugs.”

Franklin, whose supporters will play a large part in determining the outcome of the runoff, said he was disappointed in the results, but not in the campaign’s effort or message.

“We carried most of the west side of the county where we live, so I am proud of that,” Franklin said.

“My supporters worked hard and I will never forget that.”