Vermilion County state's attorney: Brinegar wins
By: Noelle McGee
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
DANVILLE – Randy Brinegar said he's ready to make the jump from an assistant state's attorney to Vermilion County's top prosecutor.
In his first bid for public office, the rural Bismarck Republican narrowly defeated Danville Democrat Dan Brown, a private practice attorney, in Tuesday's election.
"It's been such a longtime goal of mine," Brinegar said late Tuesday night, the victory still sinking in. "I'm very excited. The excitement is somewhat tempered by the responsibilities that lie ahead. But I'm ready to jump in."
On Dec. 1, Brinegar, 56, will replace Frank Young, a Danville Republican who has held the office for the last eight years and decided not to run for a third term.
With 80 of 93 precincts reporting, unofficial vote totals showed Brinegar with a lead of about 1,300 votes.
Brinegar thinks voters appreciated his stance on drug activity.
He campaigned to minimize drug dealers' chance of probation during the plea-bargaining process, regardless of their criminal history or lack of one.
He also thinks his reputation for fairness appealed to them.
"I actually had people say, 'You prosecuted me' or 'You prosecuted my brother, but you were fair,'" he said. "That's what the office is about. It's about justice, and justice requires fairness."
In office, Brinegar also plans to crack down on domestic violence and abuse and teacher assaults and bring a greater number of repeat offenders to trial.
He also plans to make changes to better prioritize cases, and bring more consistency to the way charges are filed.
Brinegar thanked his wife and campaign manager, Deborah, and numerous volunteers, many of whom celebrated with him on election night.
He also thanked Brown, whom he once worked with at Brown's practice, for running a clean campaign.
"Both Dan and I lost our fathers in the last two years. Both of our fathers would be proud of how we conducted ourselves in the campaign," he said.
Brown, 52, congratulated Brinegar and said he'll "do fine" in the job. He said he probably wouldn't run again for the office.