PARIS – Wilton Police Chief Wayne Gallant led at the polls late Tuesday night by more than 1,800 votes for Oxford County sheriff.

With 18 Oxford County towns reporting, the 57-year-old Rumford Democrat had 7,936 votes, while Oxford County Chief Deputy Christopher Wainwright, a Republican, had 6,117.

Both men waited anxiously in their hometowns for the rest of the results to come in.

The Town of Rumford gave Gallant a big boost in the polls, with 2,107 votes to 471 for Wainwright.

Mexico also went for Gallant, 930 to 223 for Wainwright, a 707-vote boost. While more western parts of the county were polling strong for Wainwright including the town of Fryeburg where he won with 987 votes to Gallant’s 456.

At 11 p.m. Gallant was in high spirits.

“I’m pretty optimistic,” he said. “It’s looking good with the votes in Rumford and Northern Oxford County.”

Gallant worked for the Rumford Police Department from 1980 to 2004.

“People here know what I did,” Gallant said of Rumford’s voters.

However at 11:15 p.m. Wainwright hadn’t given up hope.

“We’re still feeling good about it,” he said.

He noted that most of Gallant’s lead was because of Rumford, and only half the towns had reported.

“We’re waiting for the big numbers,” he said. However, “we’re not jumping for joy by any means.”

Both men chatted it up with voters at the polls Tuesday, and both said they received positive feedback from voters.

Gallant prides himself on his experience as a law enforcement administrator, and said previously that is what made him stand out above Wainwright.

Gallant said he wants to take care of the jail overcrowding problem, work to get grants for the county and continue sex offender registry and domestic violence programs.

He said his strengths in law enforcement are as an administrator and in heading up a drug task force.

He was the first DARE officer in the tri-county region.

If he is elected, “I won’t have to start being a good sheriff and start working hard, I’ll just continue working hard,” Gallant said.