Christiansburg police Lt. Tim Brown, the son of the late Blacksburg police chief and Montgomery County supervisor Bill Brown, led two fellow Democratic candidates Tuesday in a party primary for county sheriff.
Brown was ahead of Ed Hertling, a retired county sheriff’s office captain, by 247 votes Tuesday night. Greg Warden, a Roanoke sheriff’s office employee, finished a distant third.
The election will be certified after some post-election votes are counted.
County Registrar Connie Viar said provisional ballots will be processed on Aug. 10.
“Because we have a large university in our backyard, that could be quite a bit. For this election, we don’t expect thousands that we generally get, but we are getting them,” she said.
Brown did not respond to messages left for him Tuesday.
“It definitely looks like he’s winning, but we are going to hold off doing any type of announcement stuff until the totals actually become official,” Hertling said.
Warden said he supports the winner of the race, adding “I would just like to thank all my supporters and good luck to the other candidates.”
A special election is being held Nov. 3 because former sheriff Hank Partin, a Republican, announced his retirement in March. Brown will face interim Sheriff Robert Page, who won a Republican “firehouse” primary in June at the Montgomery County Government Center.
Brown’s priorities include expanding community outreach programs, ensuring consistent oversight over police personnel, and strengthening public confidence between law enforcement and the community, according to his campaign website.
Voter turnout was at 7% of total registered voters Tuesday night — 5,086 votes cast from more than 68,000 registered county voters, according to the Virginia Department of Elections.
