Merrihew garnered 951 votes to North Hudson town Supervisor Stephanie DeZalia’s 494 votes in the election. Merrihew got the biggest showing of votes in the county seat of Elizabethtown, where she earned 121 votes to DeZalia’s 52. There was one write-in vote in the town of North Elba.

The Essex County Board of Elections sent out 260 absentee ballots for the primary race, according to Jennifer Fifield, the Board of Elections’ deputy Democratic commissioner. More than half of those absentee ballots — 144 — were returned by Wednesday. Absentee ballots postmarked by Election Day can still be counted if the Board of Elections receives them by July 5, Fifield said, but the outstanding 116 ballots wouldn’t be enough to sway the results in DeZalia’s favor. Merrihew, an Elizabethtown native who lives in the town of Lewis, told the Enterprise on Wednesday that she was “very pleased” with the election results.

“I felt like it validated the work that I’ve done over the last few months to get out and meet the Republican voters of the different communities in Essex County,” Merrihew said. “It also validated the 15 years of work I’ve done at the county clerk’s office.”

Merrihew, 41, has sat as acting county clerk since this past November following longtime Clerk Joseph Provoncha’s retirement. Before that, Merrihew served as deputy county clerk for four years. She spent her first 10 or so years at the county clerk’s office working in records management.

Merrihew said a host of people helped her get out into their local communities and reach local Republican voters ahead of this month’s primary election, and she found that many voters were receptive to her previous work and “consistency” in the county clerk’s office. She thanked the voters who turned out for the primary election on Tuesday and the early voting period from June 17 to 25. Primary races in the county usually have low voter turnout, according to Fifield — she said around 12% of registered voters in the county turned out for this month’s various primary races.

Though Merrihew and DeZalia competed for the Republican party line, DeZalia also petitioned to run in this November’s county clerk race on the independent “New Visions” party line and Merrihew is also running on the Conservative line. That means that DeZalia will still appear on the ballot in November’s election for the position. However, Merrihew is the only candidate who will run on the Republican line.

Fifield said that running on major party lines can give candidates the upper hand in an election since many voters typically cast their votes along major party lines.

Both Merrihew and DeZalia have around 15 years of experience in the county clerk’s office, with DeZalia’s stint in the office starting earlier than Merrihew’s. DeZalia has spent the last five years serving as a town councilor and a supervisor in North Hudson.