Assessor of Property
Republican primaryMarty Haynes: 17,177Sterling Jetton: 15,792Randy Johnston: 10,953 Democratic primaryMark Siedlecki: 15,529
Mark Siedlecki, candidate for Hamilton County Assessor of Property.County commissioner and small-business owner Marty Haynes edged out challengers during Tuesday’s primary for Hamilton County property assessor.
After running neck-to-neck with challenger Sterling Jetton, Haynes finished a little more than 1,000 votes ahead and will square off against Democrat Mark Siedlecki in the August county election. Whoever wins that election will replace decades-long incumbent Bill Bennett in the first Tuesday of September.
“It was a hard-fought battle, but we were successful and had a lot of good folks helping us,” Haynes said. “I’m really happy for the folks who trusted me and helped me and supported me.
We’re gonna take a break for a couple of weeks, catch our breath, and go back to it again,” he said. “We will work as hard from the middle of March to August as we did this past six months.”
Jetton, a pastor at Shelter Church who worked in the assessor’s office for 27 years, and Randy Johnston, a longtime property assessor of 31 years, placed second and third, respectively. Both said they were pleased for their competitor.
“We knew with three people in the race it would really split things up,” Jetton said. “It was a great race. So Marty won, and he did it in the last few precincts there.”
Jetton said he plans to support Haynes in the assessor’s race against Siedlecki.
“I would make myself available to him for any knowledge and understanding that he may need,” he said. “It’s important to the county that we need not be divided over the race.”
Siedlecki has not made a formal announcement, but previously described himself as a businessman with experience in management and technology.
“I have the experience and skills needed to modernize the office and make it run more efficiently, for the benefit of our citizens,” he said in a statement to the Times Free Press. “I look forward to a competitive race with the Republican nominee in August.”
Johnston said Haynes ran a campaign “the way it’s supposed to be ran.”
“He has nothing to look back on and say, ‘I did this, and that’s why I won,'” he said.
Johnston thanked his family members and said 10,000 votes was satisfying for only raising $12,000.
“I’m sad because I really wanted to win, but I’m not devastated,” he said. “I will go back to work on Monday. I’d already taken off the week for this, otherwise I’d be there tomorrow.”
Contact staff writer Zack Peterson at zpeterson@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6347 with story ideas or tips. Follow @zackpeterson918.