Matheny Jr. Back as sheriff

Sheriff Jackie Matheny Jr. will serve another four years after turning back a challenge from James “Bo” Ramsey in Thursday’s Warren County general election.

Matheny finished with 4,784 votes to Ramsey’s 3,827, winning by 957 votes after establishing a sizable advantage during early voting.

Matheny entered Election Day with a 571-vote cushion after receiving 2,784 early votes compared to 2,213 for Ramsey. That left Ramsey needing a strong showing Thursday to have a chance at flipping the race.

The challenger made a push.

While Matheny won 16 of the county’s 20 precincts, many of the individual battles were tight. Half of the Election Day precincts were decided by 20 votes or fewer, giving Ramsey opportunities to chip away at Matheny’s early advantage as results began arriving.

Matheny never allowed the race to swing.

His ability to hold Ramsey off in the close precincts while continuing to pick up votes throughout the county kept the early-voting cushion intact and ultimately produced a much more comfortable victory than Matheny experienced four years ago.

Matheny first won the sheriff’s office in 2022, when he defeated incumbent Tommy Myers by just 87 votes. Thursday’s 957-vote margin represented a significant increase for Matheny in his first election defending the seat as the incumbent.

The victory also continues a lengthy Matheny family connection to the Warren County Sheriff’s Department.

Matheny followed his father, longtime Warren County Sheriff Jackie Matheny Sr., into the office with his victory four years ago. Matheny Sr. served as sheriff from 1994-2018, leaving just a four-year gap during Tommy Myers’ term the only thing standing between what could be 36 years of Matheny leadership in law enforcement locally.