Local lawyer, law professor and circuit judge candidate Joel Williams said he wouldn’t have done anything differently in his quest for the judgeship.

Democrat Williams lost the election to his Republican opponent, Shannon Clark, Tuesday night. Williams took the vote in Pike County, but lost in neighboring counties.

From the start, Williams had adopted a “no-campaign” campaign of sorts, saying that the judgeship was a public service and not a political position to be won.

“I’m grateful for and humbled at the support I got, and I wouldn’t do a thing differently,” he said.

Williams had said he didn’t feel it was appropriate to hang signs or accept any money from constituents and then sit as their judge. As a result, he didn’t have the name recognition or relationships outside the county needed to win the election.

“There are some things more important than winning, like doing what you’re supposed to do,” he said.

Williams said he will continue to practice law and spend time with his family and does not plan to run for circuit judge again.

“I wasn’t surprised, I wasn’t disappointed, I wasn’t shocked, I wasn’t depressed,” he said. “I’m no politician, and I’ve got the election results to prove it.”

Williams said he was grateful for the support he received in Pike County and the confidence of his voters, but the numbers just didn’t add up to a win in the end. And that’s okay by him.

“It’s sincerely humbling and gratifying, but at some point arithmetic rules the day,” he said.

Even so, he said he wouldn’t change a thing.

“I think it was more important to be honorable than to win,” he said. “I feel lucky every day that I get to be a lawyer.”