The final tally from Tuesday’s Republicanprimary in the District 39 Senate race left Sally Doty with a closefirst-round win as she and fellow Brookhavenite Bill Boerner headinto an Aug. 23 runoff.

    Doty led the three-candidate field with 2,487 votes to 2,476 votesfor Boerner. Those totals gave each just over 41 percent of thevote, with Monticello’s Dave Nichols capturing 1,059 votes, or 17.6percent, in the contest.

    District 39 includes all of Lincoln and Lawrence counties, and aportion of Simpson County.

    Boerner led Doty in Lincoln County by a tally of 1,728 to 1,363 andoutscored Doty in Lawrence County by a margin of 292 to 262. Dotyled in Simpson by a score of 862 to 456 over Boerner.

    Nichols led in Lawrence County with 475 votes. He got 258 votes inLincoln County and 326 votes in Simpson County.

    In the coming days, both Doty and Boerner will be campaigning toget voters to return to the polls on Aug. 23 as each seeks tobecome the Republican nominee in the Senate race.

    The Republican runoff winner will go on to face W.L. Rayborn in theNov. 8 general election.

    Lincoln County’s Rayborn defeated Michael Smith, of Brookhaven, bya district-wide total of 6,503 to 5,124 Tuesday.

    Rayborn won in Lincoln County by more than 400 votes, 3,867 to3,348, and in Lawrence County by more than 1,000 votes, 2,320 to1,377. Smith led in Simpson County by a margin of 399 to 316.

    The general election winner will succeed District 39 Sen. CindyHyde-Smith, who won the Republican nomination Tuesday in her questto be state commissioner of agriculture and commerce.