Once the final votes were tallied following last week’s primary election, county election officials realized that more Shelby Countians turned out to vote than expected.

Prior to the election, Probate Judge Patricia Fuhrmeister said primary elections usually draw a smaller percentage of voters.

And that was the case –

statewide.

Shelby County beat that statewide percentage, however, with 20 percent of registered voters coming to the polls.

Only some 16 percent of Alabama’s total registered voters turned out for the election.

With 17,285 voters of the 87,721 who are registered in Shelby County turning out, the county ranked among the highest for turnout in the state.

Voting on the Republican side were 15,776, or some 91 percent of Tuesday’s voters.

Choosing the Democratic primary were some 9 percent of voters, or 1,507. Two nonpartisan ballots were cast.

On the Republican side, 77 percent of voters, or 13,994, chose George W. Bush for president. Some 23 percent, or 1,065, remain uncommitted.

Statewide, 184,197 votes, or some 93 percent, were cast for President Bush to enter his second term. About 7 percent, 14,443 voters, were uncommitted.

Voting a Democratic ballot in Shelby County, 1,300 votes were cast for John Kerry to be the Presidential nominee for the November election. That was 88 percent of the Democratic votes cast in the primary.

About 7 percent, or 109 voters, were uncommitted to a presidential nominee. Three percent, or 43 voters, chose Dennis Kucinich, and 1 percent, or 20 voters, chose Lyndon Larouche Jr.

Kerry received 75 percent of the vote for nominee statewide. Receiving 4 percent was Kucinich and 3 percent was Larouche. About 17 percent remained uncommitted to a Democratic nominee.

Republican incumbent Spencer Bachus won his re-election bid for Congressional District 6. He has no Democratic opposition in November.

In Shelby County, Bachus received 13,134 votes, or 87 percent. Challenger and former Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore-supported Phillip Jauregui received 2,048 votes, or 13 percent.

Statewide, the percentages were about the same with 51,996 total votes cast in the race. Bachus received 45,037, and Jauregui received 6,959.

Current Juvenile Court Judge Patti Smith won her bid to become Republican nominee for Alabama Supreme Court Place 2. Facing Pam Baschab, Smith won decisively with 75 percent of the vote in the county and 58 percent of the vote statewide.

She received 11,264 votes in Shelby County and 117,455 votes statewide.

Baschab received only 25 percent of the vote in the county, or 3,749 votes. Statewide, she received 43 percent of the vote, or 86,678 votes.

Judge Smith, who relinquishes her seat on the bench in Shelby County after some 24 years, will face Democrat Roger Monroe in November.

There was an upset in the race for Shelby County Board of Education Place 2.

Newcomer Anne Glass received 51 percent of the vote, or 6,235 votes. Incumbent Allen Rice received only 49 percent of the vote, or 5,919 votes.

Runoffs scheduled

Some races in the county have runoffs scheduled for June 29 including the race for district court judge and the race for District 3 of the Shelby County Commission.

To avoid a run-off, one candidate must receive 50 percent of the vote plus one vote.

Jim Kramer appeared to be the favorite in the race for the seat vacated by Judge Smith, Shelby County District Court Judge Place 1. When all the votes were counted, Kramer, with 40 percent, received 5,181 votes.

Corey Moore received 2,547 votes, or about 20 percent; Stella Tipton received 2,524 votes, or some 19 percent; Wayne Keith received 1,494 votes, or some 11 percent; and Russ Hubbard received 1,267 votes, or some 10 percent.

Kramer and Moore will face off in the June 29 runoff.

Incumbent Commissioner Jimmy Bice will face challenger Jon Parker in the runoff.

Bice received 44 percent of the vote with 840 votes. Parker received 39 percent of the vote, or 738 votes. Kenneth Goolsby received only 17 percent of the vote, or 332 votes.

Also on the runoff Republican ballot at the end of June will be the race for State Board of Education District 3. The top two vote-getters statewide were Stephanie Bell and Shelby County native John Draper.

In the county, Draper received the most votes, 49 percent, or 4,325, to Bell’s 27 percent, or 2,338 votes.

Statewide, however, Bell received 47 percent, or 18,531, and Draper received 32 percent, or 12,561 votes. There is no Democratic opposition.

There is still some confusion in Jefferson County over provisional votes in the Republican race for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Place 3. Current Jefferson County Probate Judge Mike Bolin received the most votes statewide with 49.9 percent; Jerry Stokes received 26 percent of the vote; Peggy Givhan received 17 percent; and Denny Holloway received 7 percent.

In Shelby County, Bolin received 69 percent; Stokes received 18 percent; Givhan received 10 percent; and Holloway received 3 percent.

As it stands now, Bolin will face Stokes in a runoff. The Republican nominee will then face Democrat John Rochester in November.

Other races of interest:

* Shelby County incumbent Commissioner Dan Acker of District 4 was soundly re-elected with 74 percent of the vote, or 1,027 votes. Challenger Michael Morton received 363 votes, 26 percent. Acker has no Democratic opposition for the November election.

* Incumbent Commissioner Ted Crockett received 73 percent of the vote, or 1,685 votes. Challengers Iris Whitfield Wood received 19 percent of the vote, and Terry Reagin received 7 percent of the vote, 445 and 165 votes, respectively. Crockett has no Democratic opposition in November.

* In the race for Supreme Court Associate Justice Place 1, Tom Parker received 51 percent of the statewide votes; although he only received 49 percent of the votes cast in Shelby County. His challenger, Jean Brown, received 49 percent of the statewide vote, or 51 percent of the vote in the county.

Parker will face Democrat Robert H. Smith in November.

* Democrat Sharon Yates will face Republican nominee Tommy Bryan in the race for Court of Civil Appeals Judge.

Bryan received 73 percent of the vote statewide, 74 percent in Shelby County, to Win Johnson’s 27 percent statewide, 26 percent in the county.

* Democrat Donna Beaulieu will face Republican incumbent Dan Reeves in the race for District 18 (Shelby County) Circuit Court Judge Place 4 in the November election. Neither had challengers in the primary.

* Republican incumbent Robby Owens will face Democratic challenger C. Brian Davidson in the race for district attorney this November. Neither had opposition for the primary