St. Joseph County sheriff candidate Chad Spence picked up an early lead in voting totals Tuesday and hung on to top four opponents to claim the highest elected law-enforcement position in the county.
Unofficial vote totals show the 50-year-old Spence collected more than 49 percent of all votes, besting runner-up Jason Bingaman. The current undersheriff, Bingaman received nearly 30 percent of all votes.
Spence will replace incumbent Mark Lillywhite to the four-year term. Lillywhite chose to not seek re-election after serving one term.