Perry County Democrats pick Donald Bennett after tie-breaking vote

Carlton Hogue broke a 398-398 deadlock and named Donald Bennett Sr. the Democratic nominee for Perry County Commission District 1, settling a race that had already moved through a court-ordered recount of the May 19 primary. The deciding vote came from the chairman of the Perry County Democratic Executive Committee, and incumbent Albert Turner Jr. said he would contest the decision to the State Democratic Executive Committee.

The nomination fight had already been certified for Bennett by one vote before Perry County probate court rejected Turner’s challenge. A recount ordered by the party then erased that margin and left the committee split evenly, turning the final decision over to Hogue. For a county seat Turner has held since 2000, the tie showed just how evenly matched the two sides were.

That narrow split matters because Bennett now goes into the next phase of the race with the party label in hand, but not with an uncontested path through Democratic ranks. The 398-398 result suggests Perry County Democrats were divided between voters and party regulars who wanted to keep a longtime incumbent and those ready to move to a different nominee. In a local race this small, that kind of split can shape turnout, volunteer energy and the strength of support Bennett gets from precinct to precinct.

It also puts the focus on who can keep the party together after the tie-break. Bennett will need support from Democrats who backed Turner as well as those who pushed for change, while Turner’s allies now have to decide how hard to keep pressing the dispute inside the party structure. Hogue’s vote ended the deadlock, but the numbers show a county Democratic organization split almost exactly down the middle over who should carry the banner in District 1.