Ward returns as Keys state attorney

Dennis Ward will return to the office of Monroe County state attorney, defeating incumbent Catherine Vogel in the Tuesday general election.

Ward pulled out a narrow decision in the countywide balloting, 49.9 percent to Vogel’s 46.9 percent. With just one precinct unreported, Ward held a 20,224 to 19,000 edge in voting.

Ward served as the state attorney for the 16th Judicial Circuit from 2008 to 2012, when he was unseated by Vogel in a Democratic primary race.

Now a Republican, Ward campaigned this year as an “aggressive prosecutor” who secured convictions is some high-profile public corruption cases during his first term and was not shy about faulting Vogel on her office’s handling of some cases.

Ward, a former Miami Beach police officer and U.S. Marine Corps veteran, also has worked for the Monroe County public defender’s office and as an attorney in private practice for civil and criminal cases. He lives in Islamorada where he served as a Village Council member.

As state attorney, Ward will oversee a staff of prosecutors at three offices throughout the Keys. The position pays about $154,000 annually under a state salary schedule. He takes office Jan. 3 for a four-year term.

All election results are contingent upon final certification.

This story was originally published November 8, 2016 at 9:16 PM with the headline "Ward returns as Keys state attorney."