James Rankin, the Republican candidate, defeated Gregory Voudrie, the democratic candidate, in the Coles County Sheriffs race Tuesday by 14 percent of votes.

Rankin won by a vote of 57 percent or 8.450 votes to 43 percent or 6,321 votes. These are the unofficial numbers. Vote totals were not available as of press time.

Rankin said he is going to get right to work. He said he is aware Eastern is battling low enrollment and he wants to change that by making Coles County a safer place to live. One of his goals is to help draw more students to the campus by creating a safer campus environment, he said.

“I would like to hopefully be part of getting students back in to Coles County,” Rankin said. “I, for one, think nursing program or the law enforcement transition from a two-year university would be great for our communities. Those are very successful to get a four-year degree.”

Other than drawing a larger student population, Rankin said for the next four years, he is focusing on making Coles County a safer place to live in, as well as a place families would want to live in.

Rankin said he believes he was chosen as sheriff because people are ready for a change. People are tired of dirty politics, he said. The people of Coles County want someone who will lead by example and have fun while doing it.

Rankin said one thing he is going to change while he is sheriff is the booking process and in-and-out process. He also said he is going to itemize things and work on making changes one at a time, not all at once to make everything better.

“I’m going to have an open door policy. I’m excited to have new and great ideas come to the sheriff department and make it successful,” he said.

Rankin said his supporters have been outstanding appreciates everything everyone has done for his campaign.

Rankin said he appreciates all of his supporters have done during the campaign whether it was for his parade to knocking on doors.

This was Rankin’s first time running for the Coles County Sheriff position. He is a United States Army Airborne Veteran. Rankin has served as a patrol officer since 2004, a Coles County courthouse security officer, a member of the Coles County Crisis Response Team and the CRT hostage negotiator and training coordinator.

Incumbent Darrell Cox chose not to seek re-election this year.

Rankin and his supporters celebrated at U-Hotel last night.

Margaret Langevin can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected]