LUMBERTON — Lumberton and Pembroke will have their first new mayors in decades following close races in Tuesday’s municipal elections.
Bruce Davis was elected mayor of Lumberton by a margin of 69 votes, and Allen Dial will serve as Pembroke’s mayor after winning by a margin of seven votes. Across the county, 13 mayors were elected and candidates were elected to 15 municipal boards.
Lumberton
Davis, a former councilman, takes over for Mayor Raymond Pennington, who did not seek reelection after 24 years at the head of the council. Lumberton’s race was close, with all three candidates boasting experience on the City Council. Davis served 24 years on the council and runs B.W. Davis construction company.
Davis earned 1,510 votes, edging out Don Metzger, who is currently on the council and has served for 8 years. Metzger earned 1,441 votes —a margin of just over two percent.
Cantey, who was elected to the City Council in 2005, won 462 votes. He will return to his Precinct 5 council seat; the term does not expire until 2017.
The race to represent Precinct 7 was even closer. Incumbent Leon Maynor won with 282 votes — one vote more than challenger Laura B. Sampson, who was making her third bid for the City Council. A candidate may request a recount if vote totals are within one percentage point. The Precinct 7 race came down to a margin of .17 percent.
Karen Higley was unopposed in her bid to represent Precinct 4, which had been represented by Harry Ivey. She earned 159 votes.
Chris Howard Jr. will take over for current Precinct 6 Councilman Robert Jones. Howard was unopposed and won 326 votes.
Pembroke
Dial succeeds Milton Hunt as mayor of Pembroke. Hunt served 33 years in the position before his death in April.
Dial previously served on the Pembroke Town Council for 16 years before losing his bid for a fifth term in 2013 in a state-mandated do-over election flipped initial election results. He is a licensed auctioneer who owns a heavy equipment operation, Dial’s Auction Company, and Lumbee Drive Inn.
Dial took 197 votes, while Robeson County Economic Developer Gregory Cummings won 190; Councilwoman Theresa Locklear, 118; and Planning and Zoning Board member Manuel Perez, 41. Cummings said Tuesday night he was “considering” appealing the vote.
Pembroke’s Town Council was unchanged by election results. Locklear will return to her council seat, which doesn’t expire until 2017.
Incumbents Ryan Sampson and Larry McNeill won reelection, with 347 and 268 votes, respectively. Challengers Jan Lowery and Charles Freddie Oxendine, won 156 and 144 votes, respectively.
Maxton
Incumbent Commissioner Emmett “Chip” Morton III defeated challenger Geraldine Graham McLaurin for the mayor’s seat, which was held by Sallie McLean, who did not seek reelection. Morton earned 330 votes and McLaurin 177.
Three challengers emerged from a crowded field of 11 candidates vying for seats on the town board. They are Paul McDowell, who won 250 votes; James McDougald, who won 219 votes; and Elizabeth McEachin Gilmore, who won 179.
Incumbents Cynthia “Tiny” Johnson and Victor Womack lost their seats, earning 125 and 161 votes respectively.
Challenger Jean Teeters earned 58 votes; Nathaniel Malloy, 88; Robert Lee McRae, 33; Patricia Johnson, 31; Virgil Hutchinson, 146; and William Harold Seate, 108.
St. Pauls
Longtime St. Pauls Mayor Gordon Westbrook fell by three votes to commissioner Jerry Weindel, whose seat on the town board will be filled by an appointment. Weindel earned 165 votes to Westbrook’s 162.
Jerry Quick and Evans Jackson Jr. took incumbent Sandra Graham Cain’s seat and an additional available seat on the St. Pauls board. Quick earned 194 and Jackson earned 164,
Graham Cain lost her seat, getting 117 votes while challengers John Edward Gudauskas Jr. and Brice Altman received 58 and 26 votes respectively.
Fairmont
In Fairmont, former mayor Charles Kemp snagged a seat on the town board after earning the most votes — 364 — in a field of six. Kemp served as a commissioner for 28 years and as mayor for eight years before losing a bid for reelection in 2013.
Incumbent Jeffery J. McCree held onto his seat with 312 votes, while incumbent Carol-Leak McKenzie’s 169 votes did not win her another term. Challenger Cassandra Gaddy will enter the board, with 292 votes. Lynnettah Hunt and Melvin Ellison, also challengers, garnered 244 and 284 votes respectively.
Red Springs
Red Springs Mayor John McNeill was unopposed in his bid for another term, winning 373 votes.
Commissioner Duron Burney kept his seat on the council, receiving 289 votes. Incumbent David Shook lost his seat, receiving 254 votes — one fewer than Shearlie McBryde. Caroline Sumpter took a third seat, which Commissioner Robert Hollingsworth did not file for, after receiving 298 votes at the polls.
Rowland
Challenger James Hampton Sr. unseated Rowland mayor Doris Elizabeth Hunt, with 129 votes to Hunt’s 107. Board incumbents Betty J. Boyd and Allen Jean Love, who earned 137 and 153 votes respectively, were unopposed and will serve another term.
Parkton
Parkton Mayor Al McMillan won reelection after earning 52 votes to challenger Joshua Phillips’ 24.
Incumbent winners locked down two of the five available seats on the Parkton Board of Alderman. Doris Underwood and Nathaniel Solomon were definite winners, earning 53 and 46 votes respectively. The other seats will have to be decided once the Board of Elections can determine who snagged the 39 votes awarded to write-in candidates.
Incumbents Robin Hill and Wanda B. Matute both received 38 votes, but were overshadowed by Annette McKelvie McColl, who received 41 votes. As soon as the Board of Elections is able to identify whether a write-in candidate earned a top spot, the fifth seat can be called.
Challengers Jo Ann Baldwin, Melody Britt and Kristian Phillips received 38, 21 and 18 votes respectively.
Rennert
Elizabeth Locklear was unopposed in her bid for Rennert mayor, winning 46 votes. Council incumbents Shirley Ashford Tolson, Brenda Locklear and Vivian W. McRae were also unchallenged and were reelected with 43, 51 and 46 votes, respectively.
Marietta
Marietta Mayor Justin Oliver was unopposed, as were incumbent board members Walter Powell and Mae Thelma Williams. Oliver won 14 votes while the board candidates earned 15 each.
McDonald
Mayor James R. Taylor. was unopposed for reelection and won 26 votes. McDonald council members Dannie Bacot and William Britt were also unopposed and held on to their seats for another term. with 26 votes each. A third council seat vacated by E.B. Morton, will be filled by a write-in candidate.
Proctorville
Mayor Allen Fowle and incumbent Aldermen Deborah Connor, Jennifer Connor and Virginia Ivey were unopposed. Each candidate won nine votes.
Raynham
Mayor Debra L. Arnette and three Raynham council members, Datry Hunt, Martha Watts and Kathleen Lindsay, were unchallenged. All four won 12 votes.
No one filed for two seats on the Lumber Bridge council, or for the mayorship and four aldermen seats in Orrum. The Board of Elections will determine which write-in candidates, if any, will fill those seats.
All results are unofficial until canvassed on Nov. 10.
For more election coverage, see Wednesday’s edition of The Robesonian.
