MORROW COUNTY — The next Morrow County commissioner will be decided in November.

Incumbent Jim Doherty staved off a competitive primary challenge from Joel Peterson on Tuesday night, coming in first in the nonpartisan race with 41.56% of the vote compared with Peterson’s runner-up finish with 38.25%.

But the two will have to face off again in a November runoff because neither received more than 50% of the vote.

“I don’t know if one ever really relaxes,” Doherty said of the result. “But I was really, really thrilled.”

Though he had to keep a close eye on the results Tuesday night, Doherty said competitive elections are ultimately what’s best for a community.

“I think it’s a great thing,” he said. “For a long time, especially in these small counties and communities, you end up drawing from the same folks year after year. You want more involvement rather than less.”

Peterson is a farmer from Ione, who has served as an elected member of the Ione School Board and spent a number of years as an appointed member of the Morrow County Planning Commission. He was unable to be reached for comment Wednesday.

Doherty, a self-employed cattle rancher from Boardman, is running for reelection after serving the last four years on the county’s three-person board of commissioners. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic restricting traditional campaigning methods, Doherty said he mostly relied on his record and reputation from being on the board for Tuesday’s primary.

As those restrictions begin to ease and he can ease back into his preferred campaigning methods of going door to door and holding town halls, Doherty said he’ll likely need to reach out and generate some more fundraising for the next stage of the campaign.

Other challengers, Joseph Armato, an emergency dispatcher from Heppner, finished third with 10.26% of the vote, while Michael Sweek, a chemical loader from Heppner, was fourth with 9.65%.