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MACON, MO. -- He is not the new sheriff in town yet, but come January 1, 2013, he will be.

Kevin Shoemaker of New Cambria overwhelmingly defeated his boss in Tuesday's Democratic primary for Macon County Sheriff.

In fact, Shoemaker defeated longtime sheriff, Robert Dawson, in every precinct in Macon County.

Shoemaker has worked for the Macon County Sheriff's Office for almost seven years now.

He started out as a deputy, and after two years, he was promoted to lieutenant deputy.

Shoemaker told KTVO it's been a long five months of campaigning, and he thanks everyone who helped make his victory possible.

"We put in a lot of hard work,” said Shoemaker. “I had a good staff, a great staff, wonderful staff, so many helpers. We walked towns, we walked the rural areas, we drove, we talked, did the campaign thing. That's what we had to do to win."

Shoemaker said he has many plans for the Macon County Sheriff’s Office.

He wants to build a new image for the department, create a great rapport with the public and do as much training as possible for the sheriff’s office staff.

He said he wants to try to do a lot of that training in-house.

Shoemaker said Sheriff Dawson has been a great boss and he wishes him well in the future.

Dawson remains sheriff until the end of the year.

Shoemaker's name will be on the November ballot, but he has no opposition, meaning he will be the new sheriff of Macon County effective New Year's Day.