Welch, a former commissioner who spent much of election night at the Jessamine County Courthouse, was pleased with how he performed.
"I appreciate all the people who supported me and came out and voted," he said. "We put in a lot of hard work, andit's paid off. Family and friends have put in a lot of hard work and support."
The top eight candidates now advance to the November general election.
For those remaining city commission candidates, their attention now shifts to the general election.
"The primary was about what I expected," Collier said. "Some of these people got out and worked hard this spring. When you work hard, you get the votes. I thought we worked hard, but evidently we're going to have to work harder in the fall."
Candidates like Burt Ladd know they have to turn things around in order to finish in the top four come November.
"I'm going to have to do something. I'm a thousand behind the top four," he said. "It's too early yet to figure out what I'm going to do."
The order of finish didn't come as much of a surprise to Ladd.
"You've got the people with the name recognition, they finished first, and the four new guys finished in the bottom four, but I was hoping it would be a little bit better," he said.
The general election will be held Nov. 4.
Presidential results in Jessamine County
In the Democratic Presidential Primary, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton defeated Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, 4,286 to 1,546. Statewide, Clinton dominated Obama with 65 percent of the vote to 30 percent.
In the Republican Presidential Primary, Arizona Sen. John McCain defeated Ron Paul, 1,442 to 239. McCain also marched to an easy victory in the Bluegrass with 72 percent of the vote.
Senate race results in Jessamine County
In the Democratic U.S. Senate race, Bruce Lunsford beat Greg Fischer by a 2,994 to 1,843 vote count. Lunsford also bested Fischer by a 51 percent to 34 percent vote statewide.
On the Republican side, incumbent Mitch McConnell bested Daniel Essek, 1,951 to 337. McConnell also routed Essek statewide, winning with 86 percent of the vote to Essek's 14 percent.
Editor's note: Journal intern Hannah Ferguson contributed to this report.
