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Early voting under way for four runoff races in Saline |
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Thursday, 20 November 2008 |
What little bit of political business that was left unattened in the Nov. 4 general election will be taken care of in the next several days.
Early voting is under way in Saline County for four races that will be decided in Tuesday’s runoff election.
Voters are deciding two city council races in Alexander, one council race in Bauxite and a constable race in District 12.
“We think voting will pick up some when the polls are open next week,” Linda Montalvo, county election coordinator, said Wednesday. “So far, we’ve had only a handful of people come in.”
Early voting hours are 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. weekdays through Monday. People may vote at the county clerk’s office in the courthouse complex at 215 N. Main St. in Downtown Benton.
Polls will be open at two locations on Tuesday: from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Bauxite City Hall and the same hours at Woodland Hills Fire Department in Alexander.
A record 71 percent of the county’s registered voters participated in the general election.
Following is a look at the four runoff races:
Alexander City Council
Ward 3, Position 1 — Alderman Harvey Howard almost avoided a runoff in his re-election bid by collecting 47.5 percent of the votes in the general election. Howard received 260 votes. Teresa Gryder earned a spot in the runoff with 198 votes (36.1 percent). Debb Ayre finished with 90 votes (16.4 percent). Howard had a seven-vote lead in early voting but widened the gap at the polls.
Ward 4, Position 1 — This was one of the tightest three-person races in the county in the general election and did not feature an incumbent. Only seven votes separated the two runoff candidates, Bobbie Finley and William Blankenship, and Gordon Hall wasn’t far behind. Finley received 199 votes (36 percent), Blankenship 192 (35 percent) and Hall 162 (29 percent). Blankenship had a three-vote lead in early voting but Finely received seven votes more at the polls and had three absentee votes.
Alexander notes — Annexation not only brought more people into the city limits, it also brought more residents into the political process. These two races are among five that were contested in the general election and attracted 12 candidates. Aldermen Patricia Jones and Paul Mitchell won re-election with more than 60 percent of the votes in their races and Michael Murray earned a seat on the City Council.
Bauxite City Council
Position 5 — Former Alderman Jeffrey Cole, who was unseated in 2006, made it into a runoff against Wallace “Bunkey” Bauer by four votes in a general election race that did not involve an incumbent. Bauer led the three-person field with 82 votes (39.4 percent), followed by Cole with 65 (31.3 percent) and Deanne Jarvis with 61 (29.3 percent). Cole led Bauer by 12 votes in early voting but Bauer outdistanced the field at the polls.
Bauxite notes — All five City Council positions were contested in the general election and incumbents survived the other four races. Aldermen Ronnie Ramsey, Mae Clark, Georgia Babbitt and Deborah Purifoy won re-election. Unseated along with Cole in 2006 was former Mayor Eddie Jones, who was the subject of several controversies during his tenure. Jones also tried to return to city government but was defeated handily by Babbitt, who recieved 64 percent of the votes.
Saline County Constable
District 12 — Constable Gene Gentry collected the most votes in the general election but was unable to avoid a runoff against Scott Chaloner. Gentry, a Republican, finished with 1,055 votes (42.4 percent). Chaloner, a Democrat, received 830 votes (33.4 percent) and Paul Mitchell, an independent, had 601 (24.2 percent). Gentry took a comfortable lead in early voting and led the voting at all five precincts on Election Day. All three candidates are from Alexander.
District 12 notes — The district includes portions of Alexander and Bauxite. This is the district in which longtime Justice of the Peace J.R. Walters was unseated by newcomer Brandi Davis by 19 votes (1,300-1,281). Davis, a Republican, is from Bauxite and Walters, an independent, is from Alexander.
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