As the county surveyor contest drew to a close after the voting on Tuesday’s primary, candidate Andrew Scholle emerged victorious after beating incumbent Brian Keith.

The two candidates, both Republicans, each wrangled a good amount of the votes in what ended up becoming a very close race. In the end though, Scholle came away with more than Keith. With all precincts reporting, Scholle had 1,564 votes and Keith had 1,363 votes. Scholle had 53.43 percent of the vote, beating Keith by only approximately seven percent.

“The campaign went really well,” Scholle noted before the final results were tallied. “There was more work than I thought there would be in a campaign, but I’m happy with the way things turned out.”

Scholle added that he felt good about his chances, but knew that the decision ultimately resided with the voters. Keith, his opponent, was optimistic before the final figures were counted.

“I think I’ve done a decent job, and I just hope that the people will realize that,” Keith said.

After the results were announced and Scholle was named the winner, Keith and Scholle remained civil and shook hands. Keith wished him luck in his new endeavor, and Scholle noted that he does have some plans for his new position.

“I’d like to be able to get more variety of records for other counties and other surveyors,” he said. “When we look for files sometimes we have trouble finding them at the courthouse. I want to make the records with a more public-friendly format.”

Scholle understood that his experience and degree in land surveying came in handy when running for the surveyor position, and claimed that his campaign went very well for it being his first one.

“It went smoothly for my first running,” he said. “There was a lot to learn. A lot of people helped and gave us guidance.”

Keith, despite his loss, remained jovial as the results were read.

“Well, I won’t quit my day job, and Andy is a good guy,” he said. “Life goes on.”