Henderson voters have elected Melissa Elliott to be the city’s next mayor, creating a historic moment on two fronts: The Mayor-Elect will be the first woman and the first Black to lead the city.
Tuesday’s runoff election was the last piece of the puzzle that provides a complete picture of city leadership; four City Council members were elected in the Oct. 10 nonpartisan municipal elections, but the mayor’s race was undecided until Tuesday’s runoff.
Traditionally, the new Council members and the mayor will be sworn in at the December meeting, which is set for Monday, Dec. 11.
As Elliott said in an interview with WIZS News Tuesday evening, she will only move one seat to the left in December; until she takes the mayor’s chair, she represents the Ward 3 at-large seat on the City Council.
New Council members elected on Oct. 10 include:
- Ward 1: Geraldine Champion
- Ward 2: Sam Seifert
- Ward 3 at-large: Michael Venable
- Ward 4 at-large: Tami Walker
Almost 10 percent more voters turned out for Tuesday’s runoff election than in the Oct. 10 municipal election, which included four City Council seats in addition to the mayor’s race.
As WIZS reported Tuesday night, Elliott got 1,527 votes (56.35 percent) to Etheridge’s 1,183 (43.65 percent).
Yesterday’s turnout was about 29 percent, compared with about 20 percent in the October election. A runoff was called for when no candidate received the 50 percent plus 1 vote needed to claim the win outright.
Middleburg re-elected its mayor to another term Tuesday. Ray Bullock was elected with 25 votes. He ran unopposed. Shirley Bullock got 18 votes, Hazel Baskett got 11 votes and Mamie Turner got 14 votes to fill three seats on the Town Council.
But Kittrell Mayor Jerry Joyner was upset in Tuesday’s election by Gene Pulley who got 16 write-in votes, according to information Wednesday from Vance County Board of Elections Director Jennifer Cocklin.
Susan Pulley got 25 votes, Mary Jo Floyd got 19 and Robert Tunstall got 17 votes to fill the three City Council seats.
Cocklin said the election results remain unofficial until the canvass is completed on Nov. 17.
Find a link to all election results at https://er.ncsbe.gov/
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