Write-in candidates elected to city councils
By TONY FYFFE
BSN Editor
Several new members were elected to city council/commission and school board seats last Tuesday in the Big Sandy region.
Lawrence County
Voters in Louisa stuck with their current six members on the city council, with Ashley Caudill, Tom Parsons, Matt Brown, Lisa Schaeffer, Mitch Castle and Gary Robertson winning two-year terms.
Unofficial results from the seven-candidate race include Caudill, 503; Parsons, 473; Brown, 461; Schaeffer, 441; Castle, 438; Robertson, 437; and James Allen Pauley-Barker, 432.
In Lawrence County’s only contested school board race, incumbent Barbara Robinson defeated Angela Holmes Wright in the 5th District, receiving 704 votes to Wright’s 402.
Johnson County
Four current members and two new ones were elected to the Paintsville City Council.
Returning to the council are David “Coach” Vanhoose, who led the ticket with 1,089 votes; Roger “Bo” Belcher, 958; Tim Hall, 873; and Rick Preston, 846.
Joining them in January will be Brandon May and Rick Roberts, both of whom waged write-in campaigns after only five candidates initially filed for the six-member council.
May polled 304 votes and Roberts got 181.
Incumbent Sara Hopson Blair originally filed for re-election but resigned her seat last month and later withdrew her candidacy, although her name appeared on the Nov. 3 ballot.
Floyd County
Write-in candidates also enabled the Prestonsburg City Council to have full membership come January as only six candidates initially filed for the eight seats up for grabs. Four write-in candidates officially declared their candidacy by the Oct. 23 deadline.
The top eight vote getters for council seats were incumbents C. “Shag” Branham, 1,012; Rick Hughes, 1,011; Don Willis, 949; David Gearheart, 944; and Brittainy Branham, 843; newcomer Lowell Thomas Samons III, 653; and write-in candidates Josh Turner, 154; and Mike Lafferty, 130.
Write-in candidates Donald J. Hall and John Shaver received 13 and 2 votes, respectively.
In the city of Martin, Mayor Sam Howell narrowly won re-election, receiving 100 votes to Clara Hughes Akers’ 91, according to unofficial results. James “Jim” Reynolds polled 28 votes.
Six candidates were on the ballot for Martin City Council, with all six winning seats. Unofficial results include Bonita Compton, 134; Harold Case (incumbent), 116; Charles Justice (incumbent), 115; Gary Akers (incumbent), 114; April Gayheart (incumbent), 113; and Jeff Powell, 113.
Winning seats on the Wheelwright City Commission were Bobby Wayne Akers, 169; Sam little, 161; Andy Wayne Akers, 158; and Bill Newsome, 156.
Rodney Hall received 116 votes and Dana McCown got 105.
Winning seats on the Wayland City Commission were Phillip Michael Caudill, 43; Curtis B. Lee, 43; Charles R. Bentley, 40; and Kathy (Susie) Mills, 39.
Two Floyd County Board of Education members were defeated for re-election last Tuesday, with Rhonda Meade losing to Keith Smallwood in the 4th District and Sherry Dingus Robinson coming up short to Steve Slone in the 5th District, according to unofficial returns.
In the 4th District, Smallwood received 1,535 votes to Meade’s 1,309. A third candidate, Loretta Tackett, got 146 votes.
In the 5th District, Slone polled 1,755 votes to Robinson’s 1,504.
Martin County
A coin toss decided who got the fourth seat on the four-member Warfield City Commission as two candidates received the same number of votes for the final position last Tuesday.
Incumbent Zane Speer and Michael D. Hinkle each received 55 votes, but Hinkle won a coin toss held Monday afternoon in the Martin County Clerk’s Office.
The top three vote getters in the six-candidate filed were John P. Sammons, 71; and incumbents Crystal Bell, 67; and David Bell II, 57.
William B. Murphy polled 24 votes.
Four candidates were on the ballot for Inez City Commission. Unofficial results were former Mayor Terry Fraley, 134 votes; incumbent Dennis Hall, 121; Lisa Wells, 117; and Richard Wells, 111.