In the words of Mickey Flacks, communication director for the No on Recall campaign, “A marshall always outranks a sheriff.”

On Tuesday night, 53 percent of voters decided not to remove 3rd District Supervisor Gail Marshall from office and replace her with former Sheriff Jim Thomas. The results brought an end to a bitterly contested election that often pitted the northern and southern halves of the county against each other.

Approximately 250 people attended Thomas’ election party in the convention room of the Santa Barbara Marriott hotel in Buellton. While 30 miles away, 300 people attended Marshall’s party at the Camino Real Caf