PICKENS — While incumbent Pickens County Sheriff David Stone squeaked by challenger Rick Clark in receiving the 51 percent necessary to avoid a June 22 runoff, the Republican Party nominee was the overwhelming victor in precinct-by-precinct totals.

The same bore true for State Rep. B.R. Skelton as it did for State Sen. Larry Martin and Pickens County Coroner candidate Kandy Kelley, though the latter two won by wide margins in the popular vote.

Despite receiving 50.89 percent of the popular vote, results provided by the Pickens County Registrations and Elections Office show Stone as the victor in 40 precincts, including absentee, compared to 14, including fail safe, for Clark. Stone will next face Democratic challenger Robert Crooks in November.

Skelton edged challenger Trey Whitehurst 1,524 votes to 1,280 to win the Republican nomination for State House Seat 3. But Skelton won 10 precincts, while Whitehurst won four that consisted of Praters Creek I, Pike, Lawrence Chapel and Mountain View.

However, Martin and Kelley were the unanimous choice of precincts. Martin defeated challenger Mac Martin in all 48 precincts involving that race while Kelley, who presently serves as deputy coroner, shut out former coroner Mitchell Davis by winning all 54 precincts.

While all totals included absentee and fail-safe, the fail-safe provisional and provisional ballots will be added when the official results are tallied today.

The clerk of court race also produced some interesting numbers. While Mac Welborn and Ben Finley will face off in the county’s only runoff June 24, Jimmy Moore received the second highest number of precinct victories (14) behind Welborn’s 30, while Finley was the leading vote-getter in only six. The University precinct produced a tie between Finley and Moore for most votes while Finley, Moore and Welborn tied for the top in the Pike district and Finley and Welborn tied in the Stone Church district.

Brent Suddeth won the county auditor’s race by receiving 57 percent of the popular vote against April Gillespie. Suddeth also dominated precinct-wise, winning 47 compared to six for Gillespie with one tie in the Pike precinct.

The Pickens County Council District 3 Republican race saw former NFL player and coach Sam Wyche receive 60 percent of the votes (2,229) in defeating incumbent Ben Trotter (1,450). Wyche faces Democrat Heywood Burbage in the November general election.

While there were several hotly contested races and perfect weather conditions, those factors failed to translate into a high voter turnout. Pickens County Director of Registrations and Elections Ashley Harris said 14,706 of the county’s 56,693 registered voters, or 25.94 percent, cast ballots.

A further breakdown shows Pickens I, 38.33 percent; Pickens IV, 36.83 percent; Holly Springs, 35.59 percent; A.R. Lewis, 34.46 percent; and Pickens III, 34.40 percent as the five highest precincts for voter participation. However, Central I, 9.97 percent; Calhoun, 9.96 percent; Simpson, 12.30 percent; Park Street, 16.98 percent; and Abel, 17.88 percent were the five lowest.

About 38 other precincts in Pickens County produced a voter turnout of 20 percent or higher.