he presidential race was not the only cliffhanger yesterday. Consider Plymouth County's unpredictable contest for sheriff.
As voters across Massachusetts cast ballots for mostly uncontested countywide offices yesterday, the race for Plymouth County's top law enforcement post was one of a handful of hotly contested races.
''It's just a fluke,'' said Jack LaLond, chairman of the Democratic Town Committee in Plymouth, where campaign workers stood in the dark with generator-powered lights shining on their signs outside polling stations. ''We have more races with viable candidates in them than any other county in the state.''
In the race for Plymouth County sheriff - which remained as close as the presidential race last night - attorney and firefighter Joseph F. McDonough, a Democrat, was attempting to unseat Sheriff Charles N. Decas. Appointed earlier in the year to replace Peter Forman, who took a position with the administration of Governor Paul Cellucci, Decas was endorsed by The Patriot Ledger of Quincy and The Brockton Enterprise. Independent Jay D. Ferguson also was running.
The sheriff's race was not without political intrigue. The contest drew statewide attention when McDonough's 24-year-old son was arrested on charges of defacing a campaign sign for Decas, and police launched an investigation into an alleged coverup of the incident.
In other Plymouth County action, the race for register of probate was too close to call last night, with Republican R. Andrew Burbine and Democrat Robert E. McCarthy vying for a spot left open by a resignation.
In the election for Plymouth County register of deeds, Brockton lawyer John R. Buckley, a Democrat, defeated Anne A. Hummel, a Republican and wife of former state representative Robert Krauss.
Two seats on the Plymouth County Commission were also up for grabs.
In Norfolk County, former Milton selectman Walter F. Timilty, a Democrat, was elected clerk of courts, defeating Republican rival, Daniel M. Dewey of Quincy.
For Norfolk County register of deeds, Quincy City Council president and former state senator Paul D. Harold, a Democrat, swept into the seat left by retiring Barry Hannon by a wide margin. He was opposed by former county commissioner Bruce Olsen of Stoughton, a Republican.
