Five-term Ward 4 councilman Fred Stewart was unseated by challenger Marty Turner 433-409 in the run-off election Tuesday.
In the May 7 primary, Stewart gained a large majority of absentee votes, forcing the run-off.
The results were declared official today after 18 affidavit ballots were counted. Tuesday night ended with a 20-vote lead for Turner after general and absentee votes were counted. Turner led Stewart 422-402 going into the affidavit counts.
Twenty affidavits were accepted after six were disqualified, but two of those 20 were left blank. Of the disqulified affadavits, a few were for addresses not in Ward 4 and others were for failing to register to vote in time. With only 18 affidavits accepted and filled out, Stewart was mathematically ruled out of any chance to catch up with Turner.
Despite his win, Turner refused to comment to The Dispatch.
“I do not want any comments on the press at all,” Turner said. “I’m not going to talk to the press.”
Calls to Stewart just before press time were unreturned, but after learning he was 20 votes behind Tuesday night before affidavits were counted, he said he was proud of his campaign.
“It’s been a good campaign between both of us, and I’m glad it’s over with,” Stewart said. “It was a good, clean campaign … and I wish him the best.”
A total of 203 absentee ballots were accepted in the run-off, accounting for 24.6 percent of the total pre-affidavit counted ballots. Stewart had 135 absentee votes to Turner’s 68.
In the primary, 127 absentee votes were counted in Ward 4, with 100 of those cast for Stewart.
Before absentees were counted, Turner had 57 percent of the vote and led 354-267.
There were a total of 824 votes cast in the run-off, not including the affidavits — 54 votes better than the primary’s official total of 770 votes cast.
Tallies from the voting machines showed stark contrasts at each of the ward’s three precincts. At Hunt Intermediate School, Turner soundly defeated Stewart 315-183, while Stewart dominated general returns 72-13 at the First Assembly of God precinct. Only 38 general ballots were cast at the Propst Park community hut, with 26 of those in Turner’s favor. Stewart’s tenure as councilman will end in July when the newly-elected officials are sworn in.
General elections will be held June 4. Incumbent Mayor Robert Smith, a Democrat, is running for re-election against Republican Glenn Lautzenhiser and Independent Bo Jarrett. Incumbent Ward 2 Democrat Joseph Mickens and former councilman and Republican challenger Susan Mackay will also face off in the general election.
Nathan Gregory covers city and county government for The Dispatch.
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