Mitch Cooper hugs his daughter, Kelly, as his wife, Gina, looks on Tuesday night at the Cesare Battisti Club in Altoona. Cooper won the Republican primary election against opponent Ray Benton. (Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski)

Altoona’s former Deputy Chief of Police Mitch Coo­per officially stepped out of retirement Tuesday night as he won the Republican nomination for Blair County sheriff over Constable Ray S. Benton, receiving nearly 74 percent of the vote. The county election board reported that with the ballots counted in all 97 precincts, Cooper received 6,519 votes to Benton’s 2,303 votes. By winning the Republican nomination, Cooper most likely will become the next sheriff, replacing Larry D. Field. The longest-serving sheriff in Blair County history, Field decided not to run for re-election after 20 years on the job. The Democrats did not put up a candidate, which means Cooper will be the only person on the ballot for sheriff in the fall — unless Democrats wrote in another candidate. That won’t be known until the county verifies the results of Tuesday’s election. Cooper addressed an excited group of cheering supporters that packed the Cesare Battisti Club Banquet Hall. “I am at a loss for words.