HOUSTON COUNTY, Ga. — Houston County residents will get a new sheriff for the first time in over a half-century. On Tuesday, voters selected their Republican and Democratic nominees for the sheriff's race: Republican Matt Moulton and Democrat Arthur Lee Harris.
One of the two candidates will fill the seat of the nation's longest-serving sheriff Cullen Talton after he retires this year.
After Talton told 13WMAZ last September he was not running for re-election this year, five men put their names in the hat for his position.
Harris was the sole Democrat running.
"I know this community," Harris said. "I was born and raised here. I seen this community grow from 5,000 to 170-some-thousand, so I know our community. And now, it's time for a change in our community, too," Harris said.
Moulton won the Republican seat by 57%, beating Jimmy Dunn, Will Kendall and Slate Simons.
"It was nice to finally meet people, because when they're able to put a face to the name, they have a light bulb moment and they're like, 'Oh, you're the guy — you're the guy with the red signs everywhere,'" Moulton said.
Harris said he thought his Republican opponents were qualified to run, but expected Moulton to win because of his experience at the sheriff's office.
"I thought that the winner was way out front from the get-go," Harris said. "Everybody else was playing catch up... But to give him credit, he worked real hard."
Moulton said his biggest priority is to start an at-risk youth program.
Harris said his main priority is to stop violence through building relationships with the community.
"Rather than building jails, I wanna build relationships so we can stop some of the activities going on," Harris said.
"Dealing with budget, finance, personnel matters, leadership — I think I have been well prepared throughout my career to take on the reins of the sheriff's office," Moulton said. "This summer's gonna hit and we're gonna be preparing hard for November."
But Harris said he is ready to put the work in, too.
"His hard work paid off in the first round. But now, he's gonna have to work harder, because I'm gonna work harder than he works," Harris said.
Election day is Nov. 5.