Shelby County residents came out strong for incumbent President George W. Bush, who was re-elected to the presidency with 51 percent of the national vote.

Sen. John Kerry trailed with only 48 percent of the national vote.

In Shelby County, historically a Republican stronghold in Alabama, Bush received 63,326 votes, or 80 percent of the vote; and Kerry received 14,826 votes, or 19 percent.

Others who were on the ballot for president, independents Michael Badnarik, Ralph Nader and Michael Peroutka received 189, 283 and 109, respectively.

There were also 38 write-in votes cast for president.

Another race Shelby Countians were especially interested in was the race for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, Place 2 in which the county’s own longtime Juvenile Court Judge Patti Smith was running as the Republican candidate.

Smith took Shelby County strongly and did well across the rest of the state as well, winning the post with more than 1 million votes.

In Shelby County, Smith received 63,832 votes or 83 percent to her challenger Roger Monroe’s 13,113 votes, 17 percent.

Smith will move to the now-all-Republican Alabama Supreme Court after 24 years on the bench in Shelby County.

One of the most hotly contested local races on the ballot was the race for Shelby County Circuit Court Judge Place 4. Incumbent Republican Dan Reeves faced off against Democrat Donna Beaulieu.

Tally (at presstime) showed Reeves as the clear winner with 58,314 votes (77 percent). Beaulieu received 23 percent of the vote, or 17,007 votes. There were 76 write-in votes.

Shelby County district attorney was another hotly contested race. Longtime Republican DA Robby Owens faced off against C. Brian Davidson, a Democrat. Owens received 82 percent of the vote (61,566 votes) to Davidson’s 13,711, or 18 percent.

Incumbent Shelby County Commissioner Billy Thompson was the winner in his race for re-election with 5,062 votes to challenger Jimmy Carter’s 1,672 votes. Nine write-in votes were cast.

In other races:

* Shelby County voters chose incumbent U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby with 66,200 votes. His challenger Wayne Sowell received 11,460 of the county vote. When statewide votes were tallied, Shelby was chosen to return to Washington D.C.

* U.S. Congressman Spencer Bachus, who faced no opposition, received 67,381 votes in the county. There were 668 write-in votes.

* Shelby County voters Republicans Tom Parker and Mike Bolin for the other two associate justice positions on the ballot. Parker received 74 percent of the county vote to Robert Smith’s 26 percent. Bolin received 78 percent of the vote to Rochester’s 22 percent. When the final tallies were in statewide, both Parker and Bolin were winners for the positions of associate justice of the Supreme Court, places 1 and 3, respectively.

* For Appeals Court Judge, Shelby Countians came out strong for Republican Tommy Bryan who received 53,890 votes. Democrat Sharon Yates received only 21,357 votes.

* Jim Sullivan, who faced no opposition as president of the Public Service Commission, received 64,960 votes.

* Shelby County incumbent Circuit Court Judge Hub Harrington faced no opposition on Tuesday’s ballot. He received 64,341 votes. There were 460 write-ins.

* Incumbent Circuit Court Judge Michael Joiner also faced no opposition on the ballot, receiving 64,703 Shelby County votes with 427 write-ins.

* Jim Kramer was the only candidate on the ballot to take the position vacated by Judge Smith when she decided to make a run at the Alabama Supreme Court. Kramer received 64,428 votes; and there were 460 write-ins.

* Eight of the Shelby County Commissioners were on the ballot with no opposition. Receiving the following vote totals were Earl Cunningham for District 2 — 4,341 votes; Jon Parker for District 3 — 7,038 votes; Dan Acker for District 4 — 6,970 votes; Joel Bearden for District 5 – 7,554 votes; Larry Dillard for District 6 – 8,747 votes; Lindsey Allison for District 7 – 7,573 votes; Ted Crockett for District 8 – 8,695 votes; and Don Armstrong for District 9 – 8,481 votes.

* David Nichols and Anne Glass were officially chosen as members of the Shelby County Board of Education last Tuesday. Nichols received 64,248 votes, and Glass received 64,391 votes. There were 899 write-in votes cast in the two races.

Amendments

There were eight statewide amendments and two local amendments on Tuesday’s ballot.

Local amendment one, which gives the sheriff’s department jurisdiction in gated Shelby County neighborhoods, was approved by 60 percent of the voters. There were 40,083 yes votes and 27,439 no votes.

Local amendment two, relating to the jurisdiction of the probate judge, was approved with 63 percent of the vote. There were 40,356 yes votes to 23,496 no votes.

Shelby County voters said &uot;Yes&uot; to statewide amendment one with 31,816 votes. Voting no on the amendment were 24,483.

Fifty-two percent of Shelby County voters (33,790) cast approving ballots to statewide amendment two. Just more than 48 percent of the voters, or 31,551 voted no.

Fifty-four percent of the voters, or 33,637, chose to approve statewide amendment three while 47 percent, or 29,182, voted against the amendment.

Almost 60 percent of those casting ballots voted yes on statewide amendment four, 36,733 to 25,049.

Votes on statewide amendment five were closer, however, with 27,429 voting no and 26,197 voting yes.

Also losing the vote in Shelby County were statewide amendment six, seven and eight: 27,187 no votes to 23,592 yes votes on six; 27,526 no votes to 25,579 yes votes on seven; and 41,823 no votes to 20,088 yes votes on eight