As many observers expected, two contests for seats on the Baldwin County Board of Commissioners will require runoffs following Tuesday’s Republican Primary. Still, one of the races was nearly decided that day.
Incumbent District 5 County Commissioner Johnny Westmoreland and challenger Scott Little will face each other in the June 18 runoff, while District 4 voters will choose between Jay Wright and Andrew Strickland.
Little almost won his race outright, polling 489 of the 1005 votes cast, 48.66 percent. Westmoreland collected 332 votes, 33.03%, while Pam Peacock had 184 votes.
In District 4, Wright was first with 502 votes, 41.8%, and Strickland made the runoff with 447 votes, 37.2 percent. Carol Ballew was third with 253 votes.
District Commissioners Emily Davis, Kendrick Butts, and Sammy Hall are unopposed in this year’s election, but Hall will only be elected to a two-year term due to the change to staggered elections. Davis and Butts will be elected to four-year stints.
In the Republican Primary Senate District 25 race, it was not a contest in Baldwin County, as incumbent Rick Williams crushed challenger Leland Olinger with 93.6% of the votes, 2,654-181. Districtwide, with almost 60% of the precincts reporting, Williams had an 87.4% to 12.6% advantage.
In the Democratic Primary, in House District 149, Floyd Griffin easily defeated Phyllis Tufts Hightower in Baldwin County 1,595337, picking up 82.5% of the votes. With just a third of the votes counted in the district Tuesday evening, Griffin held a commanding lead with over 2,000 of the 2700 ballots cast.
Although the vote total in Jones County was much smaller, the race was considerably closer. With 50% of the precincts in, Griffin was only ahead by a 90-71 vote margin, 56-44 percent. Hightower is a native of Gray and a Jones County High graduate.
In the non-partisan Baldwin County Board of Education District 3 race, Dylan Amerson narrowly defeated Beverly Rayford by a 350-339 margin, 50.8-49.2 percent.
Little, a District 5 county commissioner candidate and a political newcomer, was appreciative Tuesday night and ready to continue.
“I am overwhelmed and so full of gratitude for the support that was shown to me tonight,” he said. “I’m excited to finish the drill.”
The incumbent, Westmoreland, was philosophical afterward.
“The public has spoken,” he stated. “There will be a runoff. We will see what happens.”
The current commission chairman said he would not do anything different in the next round.
“Like I said before, I campaign every first and third Tuesday of the month (board meetings). If it happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, so be it,” he observed, adding, “we’ve got some big decisions to make over the next year or two.”
Wright appreciated his support thus far and vowed to continue working.
“While I had hoped for an outright win, I am very honored to have made the runoff, and I congratulate both Carol and Andrew on their hard work up to this point,” he said. “I will continue to work hard over the next month to earn your votes again and hopefully to earn a few more that I did not get this time around.”
Ballew was both disappointed and grateful.
“In light of this disappointing challenge, there was so much I gained,” she said. “I felt all the love and respect of my supporters, and that is something I will always treasure.”
Unofficial figures from election officials Tuesday night showed that 5,206 people, 20 percent of the 28,161 registered voters, cast ballots. Of that total, 2,265 took advantage of early voting, 255 returned absentee ballots, and 2,686 made the trip to the polls Tuesday.
Elections Superintendent Todd Blackwell characterized the turnout as a little low.
“In a Primary, you usually figure 25% to 40% turnout, depending on what’s on the ballot. So, 20% is somewhat low. But,” he added, “there were no county-wide contested races and no state races that would attract voters.”