Democrat Jesse Bane won the seat of Harford County sheriff in a landslide,
according to unofficial election results posted on the county’s Board of Elections Web site late Tuesday.
With 88 percent of the county’s precincts reporting their results, Bane had 58 percent of the vote compared to 42 percent for his Republican opponent, Norman Cochran.
Of fifteen people interviewed at the polls earlier in the day, twelve said they voted for Bane, who retired from the Sheriff’s Office as a major in the spring after serving for 33 years.
The remaining three decided to cast their lot with Cochran, a retired Maryland state trooper.
“People know what they are going to get with Bane,” said Harford County Detention Center correctional officer Janna Wood.
Voting at Aberdeen High School Tuesday evening, Wood said that “for better or worse,” correctional officers and deputies know what to expect from Bane.
Bernie Ruzin of Forest Hill crossed party lines to vote for Bane.
“I voted for the deputy over the state trooper,” Ruzin said.
“Bane has 30 years of experience, and I haven’t heard anything bad about him,” said Jennifer Dauphinais of Fallston. “If he screws up, he certainly can’t say he didn’t know what he was doing, and that’s something I think the other guy could do.”
Bel Air resident Peter Beyer and Forest Hill resident Edgar Mistler followed party lines and voted for Cochran.
Edgewood resident Scott Crawford said he went with Cochran because Bane has
been a member of the sheriff’s office and nothing would change under his command.
“I think it would be the status quo,” Crawford said.
But Bane promised Tuesday night that things would change in the Sheriff’s Office.
“I think the first change you are going to see is a change in morale” within the agency, he said.
Cochran could not be reached for comment Tuesday night.
Matthew Santonicontributed to this story
Part of the Baltimore Examiner’s 2006 election coverage
