Gahler Would Endorse Opponent, Bodway, Who is Undecided

Republican sheriff candidate Jeffrey Gahler said that he will support his counterpart, Steven Bodway, if Gahler loses. The other choice is Democratic incumbent Jesse Bane.

"Absolutely. If I don't win I will support Steve, the Republican nominee," Gahler said. "All four of the guys who are in the race ... we all have a good relationship. I would've supported the winner if it was one of them as well."

Bodway, however, said he has not decided who he would endorse in the event that he loses.

"It's not something I thought about yet. One thing I have to take into consideration is all the nice people who cast a vote for me," Bodway said. "I have to take their vote into consideration when I make that decision."

Regardless of who they choose to endorse, the two remaining Republican candidates will likely have to wait until the Sept. 22 canvass to find out who wins the primary.

"I'm just looking forward to a final outcome, which we're not going to get today," Gahler said. "We've both run a very strong campaign."

Neither candidate said he was nervous as they sat in the Board of Elections conference room where 575 absentee one ballots were being prepared for a count.

"It's like getting a late Christmas present; you don't know what it will be and you don't know if you'll like it, but once you open it, it's yours," Gahler said of the impending outcome.

Bodway was thinking more about the past than the future.

"You always reflect on your campaign," he said. "[A separation of] 53 votes in a party after an election like this is amazing."

That is why, Bodway said, it is so important for citizens to exercise their right to cast a ballot.

"You really have to acknowledge the fact how important every single vote is in the election process," Bodway added.

Jack Meckley and Roger Sheets were the other two Republican candidates and have been mathematically eliminated from the race.