Central Illinois sheriff's winner declared by single vote

DECATUR, Ill. (AP) - A winner has been declared by a single vote in a central Illinois county sheriff's election.

The Macon County clerk's office on Tuesday certified final results giving Democrat candidate Tony Brown 19,655 votes to Republican Jim Root's 19,654 votes.

Preliminary results on Election Night had given Root a 99-vote lead, but mail-in and provision ballots counted Tuesday favored Brown 191-91.

Brown and Root are both lieutenants in the sheriff's department in the county that includes the city of Decatur. They were seeking to replace Howard Buffett, the son of billionaire investor Warren Buffett who became interim sheriff last year when the previous sheriff retired.

Brown says the election result proves every vote counts. Root said he hadn't decided yet whether to seek a recount.