In the end, the race for district attorney was not particularly close. Assistant District Attorney Christian Champagne won with roughly two-thirds of the votes. Given the philosophies at play, that is a healthy outcome.

The vote tallied Tuesday was a primary election, with Champagne and Ben Lammons vying for the Democratic nomination. With no Republican running, however, Champagne will be the next district attorney.

While both men were from the same party, the contest nonetheless got a bit testy. At least for some supporters, that reflected animosities with roots beyond the actual candidates.

For while Champagne worked for the term-limited current district attorney, Todd Risberg, he is his own man. And although Lammons once worked for the late Craig Westberg, he was hardly channeling his ghost. Those names were code for often unfair characterizations.

There are many components to the criminal justice system, and reducing them to “soft” or “tough” on crime is a distortion. But how those elements are applied does vary from one district attorney to another, and overall, those differences reflect differing philosophical takes.

There is nothing about Lammons that indicates he would have been vindictive or spiteful. But he did argue that Champagne had been responsible for dangerous criminals getting off easy. The implication there being that Lammons would have been “tough” on them.

As a nation, we have tried the throw-away-the-key approach with mandatory sentencing, three-strikes laws and the like. It leads to over-crowded jails and prisons, which often become finishing schools for criminals and incubators for gangs.

A better approach, which Champagne more fully embraces, is to look at criminal cases with special emphasis on the victims and recognizing that, while punishment is typically involved, so too must be true rehabilitation. After all, almost all convicts will at some point re-enter the community.

The differences between Lammons and Champagne were more nuanced than the campaign suggested, but in choosing Champagne, the voters ensured the 6th Judicial District will continue to focus on restorative justice and rehabilitation.