Cecil County held elections for its first-ever county executive yesterday.  Republican Tari Moore won the election with 52.7% of the vote.  As reported in the Cecil Daily,

Republican Tari Moore beat Democrat Pam Howard in Tuesday’s historic county election to become the county’s first executive when Cecil County switches to charter government Dec. 3.

Moore tallied 20,302 votes to top Howard’s 18,143 votes by a 2,159 margin.

“We made history tonight in Cecil County,” said Moore, as reported in the Cecil Daily.  The election was a historic one for Cecil County, which will change to a charter government, led by a county executive and county council after 336 years under the county commissioner structure.

The Cecil Charter was approved by voters in 2010.  Proponents of the change sought more autonomy for Cecil County and less dependency on the General Assembly.

Tari Moore currently serves as county commissioner.  Her opponent, Democratic nominee Pamela Howard was former County Treasurer.  During her campaign Moore focused on the need for development and economic growth,

 Moore vowed to fight the state on its mandate that counties adopt tier maps, which would restrict growth to areas already served by public water and sewer, or slated to be served in the near future.  Moore said another important issue is encouraging more economic growth in the county. She proposed creating a new position in county government that would help businesses interested in moving here to cut through the red tape when working with county agencies.

“With our current economic condition, the possibility of getting funding from the state for economic development is very minimal,” she said. “So what we’re going to have to do is do it from within.”

She said the position would be paid for with money from the county’s share of casino revenue, rather than tax dollars.

The county executive will serve a 4-year term.