Roberson wins sheriff's race

A two and a half year campaign for sheriff ended Tuesday with Dave Roberson winning by a large margin.

Roberson’s supporters celebrated their victory late Tuesday as incomplete results were in — with approximately 500 absentee ballots and an estimated 200 provisional ballots left to be counted, Floyd County elections chief Robert Brady said around 11:42 p.m.

Floyd Springs was the only one of Floyd County’s 25 precincts not included in the total.

As of 11:49 p.m. Roberson had brought in 6,798 votes to Caldwell’s 3,711 votes.

“I’m just ready to get back to work and started on things we’ve talked about during this campaign,” Roberson said. “I’m very thankful for the support I’ve had from so many people and I’m ready to work for everyone in Rome and Floyd County doing the best job I can. I’ve been away from the job since January and can’t wait to work side by side with the men and women of the sheriff’s office.”

The race for sheriff has been an extended one, with candidates initially announcing their bids for the position in 2018 when current sheriff Tim Burkhalter announced his retirement.

No Democrats qualified for Floyd County’s top law enforcement post so the winner of the Republican primary will replace Burkhalter at the end of the year.

The race was extended in June when Roberson brought in 48.1% of the vote, just short of the amount to avoid a runoff, with Caldwell bringing in 34.3% of the votes.

All three candidates, Roberson, Caldwell and Ronnie Kilgo, were well known in the community and had careers in the sheriff’s office.

“It’s been a long campaign for everyone involved — for all three candidates and their teams,” Roberson said. “I look forward to working with them in whatever capacity I can.”