Thirty-five.
That’s how many votes made the difference in the Oxford Township clerk’s primary race yesterday.
Longtime incumbent Republican Clerk Clara Sanderson defeated Republican challenger Patti Durr by a slim margin of 969 to 934.
Durr said she will definitely file for a recount. ‘It’s just too close,? she said.
Durr won in five of the township’s seven voter precincts. Here’s the precinct-by-precinct breakdown:
n Precinct #1 ? Sanderson 187 votes, Durr 155 votes
n Precinct #2 ? Durr 119 votes, Sanderson 75 votes
n Precinct #3 ? Sanderson 283 votes, Durr 173 votes
n Precinct #4 ? Durr 192 votes, Sanderson 183 votes
n Precinct #5 ? Durr 74 votes, Sanderson 64 votes
n Precinct #6 ? Durr 143 votes, Sanderson 124
n Precinct #7 ? Durr 78 votes, Sanderson 53 votes
Oxford Township’s other two contested races were nowhere near as close as the clerk’s.
Incumbent Republican Supervisor Bill Dunn soundly defeated Republican challenger Jerry Dywasuk, a township trustee since 2000, by a margin of 1,134 to 775.
Joe Ferrari, the incument Republican treasurer since 1992, trounced Republican challenger Paul Butkis by a nearly 2-to-1 margin.
Ferrari garnered 1,161 votes to Butkis? 683 votes.
The township’s trustee race was uncontested as four Republican candidates ran for four seats.
Incumbent trustee candidate Pat Fitchena, who’s serve on the township board for 16 years, was the top vote-getter with 1,341.
Trustee candidates Sue Bellairs and incumbent Charlie Kniffen came in second and third with 1,250 and 1,223 respectively.
Candidate Doleen Behnke won her trustee seat with 1,221 votes.
Incumbent trustee candidate Charlie Kniffen received the least amount of votes with 1,223.
All the Republican winners of yesterday’s primary will face no opponents in November.
Of the township’s 12,799 registered voters, a total of 2,386 ballots were cast in the Aug. 3 primary making for a voter-turnout rate of 18.6 percent.
A total of 2,026 ballots were cast in the Republican primary while 305 were cast for Democrats.