AUGUSTA — For Patsy Crockett, her election to the District 1 Kennebec County Commission seat comes after what to her feels like a year of campaigning.

The Democrat, a former two-term state representative and lobbyist, won her bid to hang on to the commission seat Tuesday by a margin of 605 votes.

In unofficial returns, Crockett received 10,207 votes to Jeremy Pare’s 9,602 votes. Pare, a former selectman from Manchester, ran as an independent.

District 1 consists of Augusta, Chelsea, China, Manchester, Sidney, Vassalboro and Windsor.

“I did well in Augusta,” said Crockett , who lives in and represented Augusta in the Legislature.

She also won Chelsea, but Pare won in the balance of the district, including in Manchester, where he got about two votes for every one that went to Crockett. In the other towns, the vote totals were more evenly divided.

Crockett said Wednesday that she’s pleased the cycle of running is done for now, and she looks forward to working on county issues.

County commissioners are responsible for the fiscal operations and policy decisions of county government. Jails, courts and prosecuting attorneys fall under the county government umbrella, as do emergency management and public safety functions.

Crockett was appointed in February to complete the term of the late Beverly Daggett, who died September 2015. That term ends Dec. 31.

Crockett won the three-way Democratic primary in June, beating both Augusta Ward 3 City Councilor Patrick Paradis and parliamentarian Carl Pease, who both initially stepped up to be nominated by the county committee.

She previously served two terms in the Maine House of Representatives and was a lobbyist for the Maine Sheriffs Association and Maine county commissioners.

The jail and how it’s funded and administered emerged as an issue in the race.

The commissioner’s term is four years.

Jessica Lowell — 621-5632

jlowell@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @JLowellKJ