After nearly three decades as sheriff of Lee County, Jay Jones lost the May 19 Republican primary to former deputy Cam Hunt by just 307 votes. Hunt received 9,301 votes to Jones’s 8,994, according to the unofficial results.

Jones first took office in January 1999. He had spent nearly thirty years building his career, his reputation, and his political relationships in Lee County.

But he entered this election facing several controversies, including his opposition to Alabama’s permitless carry law, disagreements over participation in the federal 287(g) immigration enforcement program, and his decision to fire Hunt after learning that his deputy intended to run against him.

Immigration enforcement became a particularly contentious issue after a Lee County deputy was shot while serving a warrant in April. Hunt criticized Jones for declining to participate in the federal 287(g) program, which gives participating local officers additional immigration enforcement authority.

Jones maintained that his department already cooperated with ICE and questioned whether joining the program would provide enough benefit to justify the additional responsibilities.

Based on what I know, I would tend to agree with Jones here.

Those issues gave voters plenty to consider. Hunt also offered something Jones couldn’t: a change in leadership after nearly three decades under the same sheriff. And in a race this close, it wouldn’t have taken much to produce a different result.

But there’s another part of this election that deserves attention.

According to The Observer’s election-night reporting, only about 13.9% of Lee County’s registered voters cast ballots in the sheriff’s race. Of approximately 131,000 registered voters, just 18,295 participated in what was effectively the deciding election. With no Democratic challenger, the Republican primary was, for all practical purposes, the general election.

That’s a remarkably small percentage of the county’s voters deciding who would lead its largest law enforcement agency for the next four years. Those who voted made their choice, and Hunt won. But nearly 86% of registered voters didn’t cast a ballot in that contest.

The other thing I find interesting is just how evenly divided the voters who did participate were. Hunt received 50.83% of the vote to Jones’s 49.16%. For all the criticism and controversy surrounding Jones, nearly half the voters who showed up still wanted him to remain sheriff.

A 307-vote margin isn’t a landslide. In fact, if just 154 people who voted for Hunt had voted for Jones instead, Jones would have kept the job. That’s how close this election was, and it shows that Jones still had substantial support despite everything that happened during the campaign.

But elections aren’t decided by how long somebody has held an office, how much experience they’ve accumulated, or how close the final count turns out to be.

They’re decided by the votes cast.

Jones had all the advantages that come with nearly thirty years as sheriff. Hunt had the challenge of convincing voters to replace him. On May 19, enough voters decided to make that change.

Given some of the things circulating around Lee County, though, I think Hunt has some serious soul-searching to do and some changes to make if he expects to serve a second term.