Chris Watkins wins Peoria County sheriff primary, now unopposed for post in November

PEORIA — Peoria County Sheriff's Capt. Chris Watkins has won the Republican primary to be the next sheriff.

And with no one yet running on the Democratic side, it appears likely he will be unopposed in the November general election.

According to the Peoria County Election Commission, Watkins had 7,413 votes to Jason Buckley's 4,636 votes, with all precincts reporting as well as all early voting ballots tallied.

More:Election results from Peoria County

During the campaign, Watkins, 40, pointed to 18 years in uniform where he spent time in nearly every division of the office — the jail, the special response team, the courthouse, patrol and, for the past few years, the administration staff — as a reason he was best qualified for the post. 

Buckley, 44, has been with the Sheriff's Office for 21 years and has spent most of his time in patrol — the division most involved in day-to-day policing. He was a K9 officer and also was involved with the honor guard as well as the search-and-rescue and special response teams. He's currently a lieutenant within the patrol division.

He pushed an agenda that would change how the department operates, while Watkins wanted to keep things similar to how his predecessor, Brian Asbell, had handled the job. 

The race was fairly low-key among the two colleagues. 

According to the Illinois Board of Elections Campaign Finance disclosure page, Watkins raised $8,625. That is based upon $2,125 raised in the first quarter and three contributions of $1,000 more or report that, by law, must be reported within 48 hours of receipt.

More:Meet the candidates running for Peoria County sheriff in June

The total could change after he files his second-quarter report, which is due in mid-July. 

There is no committee on the state's website for Buckley, which means he has not met the $5,000 threshold to require a report to the state.

Unless a Democrat enters the race, Watkins will assume the position on Dec. 1, when he will begin to draw his salary of $153,247.