LEWISTON — Incumbent Elaine Makas won a three-way race Tuesday to earn the Democratic nomination for her seat on the Androscoggin County Commission.

Makas earned 2,326 votes, more than double her nearest competitor, Lewiston City Councilor Renee Bernier, who got 1,113. Walter Morrisette Hill, a Lewiston School Committee member, placed third with 689 votes.

There will be no Republican challenger on the November ballot.

“It shows that people trust me and I appreciate that a lot,” Makas said. “I’m very pleased with the outcome. I’m anxious to get back to the job I was hired for.”

Elaine Makas has served as a county commissioner for 18 months. In December 2008, Gov. John Baldacci appointed her to serve the remainder of Helen Poulin’s four-year term. Poulin had moved from Lewiston while representing the city on the three-member commission.

Makas campaigned on her experience at the county and state levels; she served six years in the Legislature.

She said too much time and money has been spent on work that has delayed the signing of an agreement with the Sheriff’s Department labor union. The commission has also continued to fight a battle with former county employees who believed they earned a lifetime health benefit for their spouses.

The union negotiation has gone to arbitration and the insurance issue is before the courts. Legal expenses have exceeded the budget in the year’s first quarter.

“The economy is too shaky to throw money away,” Makas said.

Walter Hill, who changed his named to “Walter Morrisette Hill” in March, said he ran in hopes of changing the commission.

Hill is a part-time college student and Lewiston School Committee member who said he is taking a break from working to focus on policy and politics.

He formerly worked in several local restaurants and managed Burger King restaurants on the Maine Turnpike.

He had hoped to change the commission if elected.

“I think we need some new energy,” he said. “Hopefully, I’d be more effective.”

Challenger Renee Bernier did less campaigning than her opponents, in part due to her work as a city councilor in Lewiston.

“My time has been spread out,” she said last week. Besides the city schedule, Bernier has been working on launching a new business: a farm stand and bakery in Lisbon. She also owns Ace Detective and Security Agency in Lewiston.

However, she wanted the county job as much as the others, she said.

“It’s a position I’ve wanted for a long time,” Bernier said. Her father, Henry Bernier, was a longtime commissioner. In 2006, she lost to Poulin.