David Doak, former chief deputy, won the Democratic primary for the Portage County sheriff position against Jeff Buck, chief of the Reminderville police department.

Doak will run against Portage County sheriff Duane Kaley in the November election.

With 92.4 percent of precincts reporting, Doak received 64.67 percent of the vote against Buck’s 35.33 percent. Doak won 15,088 votes, and Buck won 8,243.

“Obviously I’m very pleased with the numbers,” Doak said. “I didn’t think the margin would be that much.”

Doak, currently unemployed because he was fired from his position as chief sheriff’s deputy of Portage County when he announced his candidacy, said he would spend all his time campaigning against Kaley.

One thing he hopes to improve is communication.

“I don’t think the sheriff has been in touch with the community,” Doak said.

He said he and Buck were on the same page in terms of improving manpower. Buck said he had hoped to improve police protection in the rural areas of Portage County.

“There’s an awful lot of crime out there and they don’t have a lot of police coverage,” he said

Buck congratulated his opponent and said his first time running for political office was a learning experience.

“I’ll do better next time,” he said.

– Kiera Manion-Fischer