The stage has been set for a historic runoff between two African-American Democratic candidates for Jefferson County sheriff in May.
Zena Stephens and Joe "Quarterback" Stevenson were the top two vote getters in Tuesday's Democratic primary race for Jefferson County sheriff. Stephens received 38% of the vote, while Stevenson received 34%, sending both to a May 24th runoff.
The third candidate Rod Carroll, who is currently Jefferson Assistant Chief Deputy, came in third place.
Stephens is currently the police chief at Prairie View A&M University and has been both a Beaumont police officer and former Chief Deputy in the sheriff's office. Stevenson is the Chief Deputy Constable for Precinct 1 in Jefferson County. If either wins in November, they will become the county's first black sheriff. If Zena wins, she would also make history as the first female sheriff.
The winner in the May runoff will face Republican candidate for sheriff Ray Beck. Beck is a retired Beaumont police lieutenant.
"This is a historic night for the Republican Party and the thousands of people that have shown up and voted for Ray Beck and are confident that I can be the leader of the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department," Beck said Tuesday night.
The win for Stephens culminates an eventful 24 hours during which her campaign office was targeted in a drive-by shooting Monday night.
Police have arrested 19-year-old Adam Carver, and say Carver has admitted to the shooting that shattered a window at Stephens headquarters. More than 20 campaign workers and Stephens herself were at the office, but no one was hurt.
Stephens didn't lose focus in the campaign, even though witnesses claim the shooter yelled out a racial slur during the attack to her campaign office.
Before election results were announced, Stephens told 12News, "No one is scared, we are out here doing what we can to get votes and I'm not afraid."
Stevenson ran for sheriff unsuccessfully against incumbent Mitch Woods in 2012, and was determined to try again. On Tuesday, he said he never doubted his success this time, because of hard work. Stevenson told 12News, "Just to know where I was four years ago and where I am now, that means I've prepared more and my campaign committee worked harder."
Carroll, who many people thought would at least make the runoff, expressed his disappointment, saying, "You're disappointed and you feel you let other people down because the numbers are not coming in in the direction you wanted, but like I said the voters speak and the voters speak loudly."
Stephens and Stevenson performed strong in the urban areas of Jefferson County. Both did well in the south end of Beaumont, with Stevenson doing strongly in Beaumont's north end. Zena received a lot of votes in Beaumont's west end, and did well in Port Arthur.
Carroll carried a lot of votes in the rural parts of Jefferson County, large areas but with smaller populations. Carroll also was counting on crossover votes from Republicans, but the presidential race generated a lot of interest among Jefferson County Republicans.
