FARMINGTON – Representing a combined 89 years of law enforcement experience, three candidates ran for Franklin County sheriff Tuesday.

Incumbent Sheriff Dennis Pike, running with undeclared party affiliation, was challenged by two members of his department, Detective Thomas White II, a Republican, and Deputy Albert Smith, a Democrat. At a recent debate in Jay, all three agreed that the greatest challenge to the department is overcrowding in the county jail. A jail certified for 29 inmates is averaging 35 daily, according to the current sheriff.

Pike of Farmington said he will implement in the jail “critically needed bed and housing expansion and mandatory increased staffing.”

Smith, a Wilton resident, said at the Jay debate that with only three officers working with 30 to 40 inmates in the jail, there is a safety issue. He said youth programs to deter kids from ending up in jail is the answer. He said he would like to see more school programs to “get through to kids before they end up on the wrong track.”

White said that jail overcrowding didn’t happen overnight and could have been anticipated. The jail is working at the same staffing levels it has had since 1983, he said at the debate and he proposed building a minimum security facility to house inmates who do not need the maximum security provided by the current facility.

At 11 p.m. Tuesday night, Pike was leading the race, having received about 1,500 votes more than his closest opponent, White. The tallies were 4,557 for Pike, 2,781 for White and 2,176 Smith.

White’s win in Wilton was close, gaining him 846 to Pike’s 800 votes there. Smith received 732 votes in his hometown. But Farmington voters chose Pike more than 2 to 1. Without totals from Jay, White’s hometown, as well as several others, results of the race could not be determined.