Jim Smith celebrates his Tuesday night primary victory, May 3, for sheriff with a gathering of supporters at Tippy Creek Winery near Leesburg. Times-Union photo by Gary Nieter.

By David Slone
Times-Union

WARSAW – Starting his campaign for county sheriff on Memorial Day weekend in 2021, Jim Smith initially faced a lot of doubters.

They said it would be hard beating an incumbent, raising money and getting supporters.

“As we got our message out, those things stopped,” he said in a telephone interview after winning the Republican primary over incumbent Sheriff Kyle Dukes Tuesday, May 3.

Smith received 5,651 votes (52.48%) to Dukes’ 5,117 (47.52%). No Democrat or third party candiate has filed to run for the office as of Tuesday.

“I’ve got to start with thanking my supporters,” Smith said about his victory.

He thanked his team for all of their hard work after 11 months of campaigning and going to events. “I couldn’t have done it without them.”

Smith also thanked Dukes for his impact on the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office, including the Jail Chemical Addiction Program and providing mental health services to the KCSO staff. He said those will continue under his administration.

He and his supporters gathered Tuesday evening at the Tippy Creek Winery in Leesburg, but Smith said they waited until all the results were in before celebrating for a short time.

As the results came in Tuesday night, Smith never trailed Dukes in the numbers provided by the Kosciusko County Clerk’s Office. Smith said he and his supporters knew it would be a close race though.

Smith said he hopes the transition for him taking over from Dukes will be as smooth as possible for the community and the staff. Until he officially takes over, Smith said he will continue to go to work as planned and will work with Dukes as they go along.

Attempts to reach Dukes by telephone Tuesday night for comments were unsuccessful.