OSSIPEE — Barring any surprises, Carroll County Sheriff Department Lt. Domenic Richardi is expected to replace incumbent Sheriff Christopher Conley after leading the race with 139 votes in Tuesday’s Republican primary.

There are no Democratic candidates for the position, so Richardi faces no opposition in the Nov. 6 general election.

The total vote tally for Carroll County was 2,823 for Conley, from Wolfeboro, and 2,962 for Richardi, from Conway. In an interview Wednesday, Conley said he would not request a recount. He said the difference in votes was “not in the recount range” and that he would pass the torch and help with the transition until the new sheriff takes office in January.

Conley, a former N.H. state trooper and current officer with the New Hampshire National Guard, said he is proud of his staff.

“I’m very pleased and proud of the men and women I worked with. We’ve brought transitional change,” he said. Until January, he said he may have a few short-term objectives but hadn’t prepared a list as yet.

“I would say it has certainly been an honor and privilege to serve and I wish whoever comes in the best. We’ll certainly have the lines of communications open,” he said.

Conley and Richardi first faced off in 2010 for the sheriff’s office, when Conley was reelected by more than 900 votes.

Conley has served as Carroll County sheriff since January 2009. Prior to his elected office, he served as a trooper, detective, and helicopter pilot with the Special Enforcement Unit. A colonel with the N.H. Army National Guard, Conley served for one year in Afghanistan.

Richardi has worked for the sheriff’s office for 17 years, starting as a deputy and rising through the ranks to administrative lieutenant. In his profile published in the Granite State News, Richardi blamed Conley for eliminating or curtailing operations of functions such as the county’s K-9 unit, drug task force, Internet Crimes Against Children investigations into child pornography, computer forensics and accident scene investigations.

Conley, who earlier this year launched a mortgage fraud task force, has had publicized run-ins with sheriff’s department personnel, including retired Capt. David Meyers, who at one time headed up the information technology functions and served on the Internet Crimes Against Children task force. Most recently, an attorney representing a condominium association asked a district court judge in Conway to hold Conley in contempt of court for not executing writs and court orders in a timely fashion.

Conley didn’t mention any regrets.

“I knew it was going to be a spirited race. I can look back and say, ‘We did this or that strategy,’ but that is Monday morning quarterbacking,” he said.

The vote tallies for the county are available on www.UnionLeader.com, but here are some counts for key battleground towns:

Wolfeboro: Conley, 673; Richardi, 285

Conway: Conley, 201; Richardi, 545;

Ossipee: Conley, 198; Richardi, 311

Moultonborough: Conley, 473; Richardi, 215

Bartlett: Conley, 77; Richardi, 236

Madison: Conley, 73; Richardi, 215