Democrat Norman “Pete” Tucker made it one step closer to a third term on the Cullman County Commission Tuesday.

Defeating rival Robert L. Harbison by a margin of 602 votes, he took the Democratic nomination for the place 2 associate commissioner seat.

He will face Republican Wayne Willingham in November.

“From here on, we will continue to focus on the issues, which is the roads first and foremost,” Tucker said after the last box was counted.

The final numbers for the night found Tucker with a total of 2,509 votes, or 58 percent. Harbison took 1,853 votes, or 42 percent.

Both candidates have served two terms on the commission previously.

After hearing the news, Harbison said he would probably not run again in the future.

“I’d just like to thank all the people who came out to vote for me, and I’m going to endorse the whole Democratic ticket,” he said.

In the primary election, Tucker came out ahead of Harbison, taking 44 percent of the vote. Harbison took 34 percent followed by ousted candidate Donald Ray Cates who took 22 percent.

During their runoff race, Tucker and Harbison ran remarkably similar campaign platforms, both called for more money for the Road Department and more state and federal grant money to help cover the spiraling costs of fuel and construction materials.

In addition, they both said control of county’s parks should be returned to a board, and that the county needs to take whatever steps are necessary to avoid the internal lawsuits they say are plaguing the commission and wasting tax dollars.

They differed in opinion on where Cullman’s future water supplies should come from.

While Tucker said he will support a pipeline to the Tennessee River, as proposed previously by the county and discussed by the city, Harbison stood by the Duck River Dam Project, which became bogged down in court approximately five years ago.

The two also disagreed on how the county’s long-awaited pay scale for its employees should be instated.

The old pay scale was removed by the commission, but has not been replaced yet.

Tucker said he will work to help install the new scale, which has been in the making by current by members of the current commission for more than two years.

Harbison said he saw nothing wrong with the old pay scale, and he would work to bring it back.

The two had a brief tussle early in the runoff when Cates issued a political endorsement for Tucker

According to Harbison, that endorsement was made because Cates could not get Harbison to promise him a job if the endorsement went the other way.

Tucker denied he promised Cates anything for the endorsement, and Cates claimed his decision was based on Tucker’s ability to beat Willingham in November.

The issue was never resolved.

Before leaving the civic center Tuesday, Tucker thanked his voters and promised to hit the ground running for the general election.

“The best thing to do is just pick up where we left off,” he said. “Most people know me, and they know I’m honest and sincere, and I think that will reflect in the votes.”

Willingham was also on hand Tuesday. He too predicted victory in November.

“We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us, but we’re here with new ideas for this county, and voters are ready to see that.” he said. “People have already seen the past.”

The general election is scheduled for Nov. 7.