WS Chronicle

We now have an answer to who the Democratic winner is for the office of sheriff. With 85 percent of the precintcts reporting, Bobby Kimbrough has won the nomination to the General Election in landslide fashion over Tim Wooten and Clif Kilby.

Kimbrough led with 71 percent of the vote with 86 of the 101 precintcts reporting at the time this article was written. Kimbrough held a watch party at Carolina’s Vinyard & Hops to wait out the results.

Many of his family, friends and supporters were on site to witness his triumph. As the results continued to come in, the mood in the room became more and more jubilant as his lead spread wider throughout the evening.

As Kimbrough received notification he had won, it seemed as though it was a foregone conclusion as his lead was never in jeopardy. Kimbrough expressed the fight is not over as he will now face off against incumbent William Schatzman in the fall.

“I am very humbled by the experience and grateful to the people that came out and voted regardless of who they voted for,” said Kimbrough. “I am happy for the support that the county has shown me.”

“Now that the primary is over I would like for all of us who participated in the process to come together and come forward and continue building bridges by serving the people,” he continued.
Kimbrough stated he was shocked he won by such a large margin in the primary because of the solid platforms his opponents ran on. He says the next step is to take this momentum onto the general election this fall.

He went on to thank his opponents for their efforts throughout the process. He says they made him stronger because they both were worthy candidates. He would like to come together with Wooten and Kilby for a coordinated effort in the general election.

Kimbrough’s campaign manager, Cindy Hagie Fraser, was right by his side for the results. She was elated to find out they would be moving on to the next step in the process.

“I am tired, jubilant and I see it as a huge victory for the people of Forsyth County and now it’s on to the next step,” she said.

“Schatzman is a four-term sheriff, so we are really going to have to play smart,” she said about their chances in the general election. “What we are going to do is run our campaign based on the issues and we have no intention on playing dirty politics.”

Fraser says she feels confident in Kimbrough because he is “qualified, energized and ready to lead.” She feels Schatzman has been a good sheriff but thinks Forsyth County is ready for a change and new leadership especially with the opioid epidemic engulfing the nation.