With all of Bibb County’s precincts reporting Tuesday night, it appeared as though David Davis won the Democratic primary and will run against Republican Shawn Joseph Fritz in November.

With only absentee votes still outstanding, Davis took 50.57 percent with 10,693 votes and Bill Lucas had 33.9 percent with 7,167 votes. Albert Hall carried 15.51 percent with 3,281 votes.

Lucas did not concede the race to Davis late Tuesday, saying he wanted to see how absentee votes affected the candidates’ totals.

“We’d just like to see that every vote is counted,” Lucas said.

Davis said he was encouraged by vote totals.

“We’re very pleased with what we’re seeing,” he said.

Both men thanked their supporters and those who cast votes for them.

A phone message left for Hall was not immediately returned.

Davis, hired by the sheriff’s office in 1979, has risen through the ranks to become chief deputy. He has served in that position since 2007.

Davis has said if he is elected he would create a citizens advisory board and a victims assistance unit at the sheriff’s office.

He also wants the sheriff’s office to obtain state certification.

Deputies would continue to use the “directed approach” of crime fighting, in which deputies watch for crime trends and allocate resources accordingly.

Lucas, a retired Georgia Department of Corrections investigator, has said inmates could be used to help clean up vacant, blighted, government-owned sites. He also wants to use new ways to target and reduce gang activity and other crime.

Lucas has said he would implement a program to train inmates how to weld and build cages for air conditioners to prevent theft.

He also wants to form task forces to be more aggressive with truancy programs.

Drawing from his experience, he said he could reduce the cost of operating the jail.

Lucas ran for sheriff unsuccessfully in the 2008 Democratic primary, losing to Jerry Modena. Modena went on to win a third term in November.

Hall, a retired sheriff’s office captain turned high school teacher, has said the sheriff’s office would become more aggressive toward criminals if he were elected.

To contact writer Amy Leigh Womack, call 744-4398.