Bower upsets incumbent Heneks in Fayette DA primary
With the results from all voting precincts in, unofficial results indicate attorney Richard Bower has secured the Democratic nomination for the office of Fayette County district attorney.
All of the results are unofficial until the Fayette County Election Bureau certifies them. The preliminary results show Bower received 8,207 votes, or 53 percent.
“I’d like to thank all the people who helped me,” Bower said Tuesday night, “and all the voters for taking the time to examine the issues.”
“It’s time to start working on issues in that office that need to be dealt with and resolved,” said Bower.
Heneks received 7,195 votes. The totals include absentee ballots cast for both men.
Of the 71,891 citizens registered to vote in the county, 23,326 — or 32 percent — decided the race.
No candidates appeared on the Republican ballot.
Bower campaigned to bring change to the office of district attorney.
He claimed the office has been disorganized and poorly managed, and he pledged to bring it into order, to alleviate the frustration in the courthouse over the way criminal trials are scheduled.
Bower, who spent nine years of his 33-year legal career as a prosecutor, vowed to be tough on crime, if elected, and to bring the county Drug Task Force back into a position of being feared by drug dealers.
Bower agreed with Heneks on one issue throughout the campaign: Fayette County needs to address the problems with its jail, in a manner that takes into consideration the safety of staff and visitors, as well as the rights of inmates.
Heneks has been in the office since 2010 when then-District Attorney Nancy D. Vernon was elected judge. The following year, he was voted into the office.
In his campaign, Heneks touted a conviction rate for cases filed of over 90 percent, and a guilty verdict rate in jury trials of over 70 percent. He also pointed to his success with the investigating grand jury he convened in 2012, which handed down indictments dealing with election fraud and a 40-year-old cold case homicide.
Heneks also highlighted the implementation of mental health and veterans courts, a Day Reporting Center and Genesis House, noting that each program helps direct defendants into the proper supervision and alleviate overcrowding in the county jail.