WEST POINT — A nearly 20-year board veteran will no longer be a member of the West Point Board of Selectmen after Tuesday”s primary runoff. The entire governing body soon will look very different; for the first time in decades, no one on the board will have served more than one term.
Ward 1 incumbent Linda Hannah, who has represented the ward for 16 years, was defeated by Rod Bobo, 393 to 204.
“We got out and beat the bushes,” said Bobo. “We engaged voters who hadn”t voted in the past, and got them involved in the process. I owe it all to my team.”
Hannah was not present when the final vote was tallied and could not be reached for comment.
In Ward 3, Charles D. Collins won the seat against Hubert Caston 355 votes to 331.
Collins, a barber, said he is ready to serve the city of West Point.
“I feel pretty good. It was a tough race,” said Collins. “I want to thank the voters for coming out and expressing their selves through the voter process. I”m just looking forward to serving this community.”
The only incumbent to emerge victorious in the runoff was Keith McBrayer of Ward 4. McBrayer defeated challenger John Caskey 521 votes to 499. An emotional McBrayer celebrated his victory with his entire family after the final numbers were read.
“I”m just happy to be here,” said McBrayer. “Both sides worked really hard to get their support out and it was a good clean race. I want to congratulate John on running a good clean race.”
A high number of absentee ballots were cast in the runoff, 431 in total, which consisted of almost 20 percent of the 2,303 votes cast in the election.
The election comes after the May 5 primary in which Ward 5 incumbent Jasper Pittman and Ward 2 challenger Homer E. Cannon both won their seats outright.
Because the ticket was made up solely of Democrats, the primary election decides the race for the seats.
The mayoral race is the only one headed to the June 6 general election.
Incumbent Democrat Scott Ross is challenged by independent Harold Lathon. Ross received 61 percent of the vote during the primary; four years ago, he defeated Lathon for the seat with 88 percent of the vote.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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