By JOEL PHELPS | The Arkadelphian

Incumbent justices of the peace Vanilla Hannah, Andrea Angle and B.J. Johns soundly defeated their challengers to maintain their seat on the Clark County Quorum Court, while one incumbent was ousted by his challenger.

Hannah, who represents District 3, defeated Republican challenger Nick Stover 184-99. Johns, who represents District 8, defeated Independent challenger Amelia May Johnson 459-52. Angle, who represents District 9, defeated Democratic challenger Valerie Johnson 251-191.

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Darrin “Spud” Buscher, who represents District 2, was the only incumbent who lost his seat on the quorum court, as Democratic challenger Michael Ankton won 403-332.

Hannah will have served District 3 for two decades once the upcoming terms in expires in 2024. She thanked the voters of Ward 3 for her support. “Thank you for allowing me to serve another term as your JP,” she said. “I will continue to work toward ‘Growing Clark County’ to include advocating for salary increases for our county employees, bringing industry to our county that will pay employees a decent wage, supporting the personnel that keep our county safe, and keeping all citizens informed on issues that affect our county.”

Hannah added that Stover “ran a great race” and thanked him for the challenge.

The 21-year-old Ankton will be among the youngest justices to serve on the court. “Elated” was the word Ankton used to describe how he felt about his win. “It feels real good knowing people believe enough in me to show up and elect me into office,” he said. “The things I said [during my campaign] resonated in the community. They trust me enough at my age to deliver me this type of responsibility to legislate and appropriate for the county government. I plan to prove they put their trust in the right person.”

Johns and Angle were not available late Tuesday for comment on their victories.