Hardin wins election as presiding commissioner

Nevada Daily Mail

Joe Hardin won by 297 votes, defeating Democratic incumbent Bonnie McCord in the race for Vernon County Presiding Commissioner.

The Republican challenger polled 2,911 votes, garnering nearly 53 percent of the vote, while McCord finished with 2,614 votes.

McCord has served in the office for 22 years.

"We built the campaign in March with a goal in mind and we conducted it that way," said Hardin Tuesday night. "I think we were very successful with our plans.

"I'm very honored to receive the support we did and am excited to serve the people of Vernon County."

Hardin said he planned to "let the night soak in. It's been a great seven-month journey for my family and I.

"There are things I want to do in the future but right now, I think it's important to take the next couple of months and honor my opponent, Mrs. McCord, and the others in public service who will be finishing out their term."

"Some months back there was a motivational speaker in Nevada, Kyle Maynard, and he said something that stuck with me," reflected Hardin.

"The gist of it was, 'It's easy to critique others, but doing something to be worthy of being critiqued is much harder.'

"I have a new level of respect for those in office. It's a hard job to do.

"Mrs. McCord gave 22 years of her life to this county. She's very dedicated and did a very good job.

"I think we, the citizens of Vernon County, should take the time to applaud her and thank her. She deserves the gratitude of our citizens."

Hardin, a small business owner, was born and raised in Vernon County and has been a resident for more than 26 years. He has a bachelor's degree in business management with a minor in accounting, both obtained from Central Methodist University.

He and his family are members of the First Baptist Church of Nevada, the Nevada Country Club, and the Elks Lodge No. 564.

Hardin said he wanted to help create a long-term plan for bridge work and hoped to work with the townships on their road issues and with the state Department of Transportation to ensure that Vernon County's transportation system stay a priority within the Southwest District.

He said he wanted to work to improve relationships with other government entities.

McCord, a graduate of Nevada High School, earned her degree in business administration/accounting at MSSU while she worked in the bookkeeping office.

She had cited her experience, her depth of training in the position and her involvement on numerous state boards representing the county.

During the campaign, she pointed to her experience of helping prepare 22 county budgets, with 11 successful audits (which are done every two years).

She noted she had written grants for hundreds of thousands of dollars and helped oversee the county's accounting system's upgrade.