BANGOR – The Republican primary race for Penobscot County sheriff was won easily Tuesday by Penobscot County Sheriff Chief Deputy Glenn Ross, but the Democratic race was too close to call early Wednesday morning.

Ross, of Exeter, handily won the Republican nomination by more than 2 to 1 over his opponent, William Birch of Bangor, who works as a patrol sergeant for the Sheriff’s Department.

The Democratic race, however, was tight throughout the night, with former Sheriff Timothy Richardson of Hermon and current Sheriff Sgt. Joseph Dauphinee of Bangor neck and neck late into the evening.

Retired Bangor police Officer Richard Stitham of Levant, another Democratic candidate, fell behind his two opponents early in the evening.

Early Wednesday, with 95 percent of the county’s precincts reporting, the vote in the Democratic primary was Richardson 3,097; Dauphinee 2,729 and Stitham 1,946.

Dauphinee took the Bangor and Brewer votes, while Richardson took Old Town, Lincoln and Hampden.

Millinocket did not report its county votes.

On the Republican side, Ross led Birch 6,567 to 3,078, with 86 percent of the votes reported.

Ross, who has served as the chief deputy of the department under current Sheriff Edward Reynolds for eight years, had a clear name-recognition advantage over Birch.

On Tuesday night, Ross was with his friends and family members out on the road, removing his campaign signs.

Contacted on his cell phone, Ross said he was pleased with the election results.

“Obviously this was an important vote for me. I’ve worked my way up through the ranks of the department and it’s sort of a natural for me to look toward the sheriff seat,” Ross said.

The race for sheriff opened up last winter when Reynolds announced that he would not seek re-election because of his battle with cancer.

Reynolds, 66, was elected sheriff of Penobscot County in 1984, ironically defeating Ross, who at the time ran as a Democrat.

The relationships between this year’s candidates were further entwined because Ross served as Richardson’s chief deputy, but resigned in 1983 to run against him in the primary in 1984. Ross defeated Richardson in the primary, but lost the general election to Reynolds in November 1984.

That same year Ross switched to the Republican Party.

Stitham, who retired from the Bangor Police Department in 1997, now works as a deputy assigned to court security for the Sheriff’s Department.

Richardson, who was a controversial sheriff in the 1980s, came under fire last month when it was revealed that a restraining order had been issued against him in August 2000 by a former girlfriend. In court documents the former girlfriend stated that Richardson stalked her and at one time put a gun to his head and threatened suicide. When confronted with the revelation, Richardson, who is married, admitted the affair but denied putting a gun to his head saying he was “not a nut case.”

Dauphinee had cited a need for a regional jail and the restoration of the county’s drug abuse prevention program as his top campaign issues. He was hired at the Sheriff’s Department in 1983 and has worked as a sergeant of support services for the past 12 years.