Election two days away
Published 7:00 pm Sunday, May 5, 2013
Yard signs, arrayed in a grab bag of colors and fonts. Candidate info cards in the mail. Familiar faces and newcomers alike pounding the pavement and knocking on doors.
It all leads up to this. Brookhaven’s primary municipal elections will occur Tuesday, and, by their conclusion, some races will be decided, while others won’t be impacted at all.
Each of the city’s six voting precincts will open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m.
In Wards One, Three, Four and Five, the winner of the race will be determined in the primary or, if needed, the primary runoff on May 21.
In Ward One, there are no Republican candidates while five Democratic candidates vie for the office.
To retain his seat, four-term incumbent Dorsey Cameron must fend off challenges from Randy Belcher, Kermit Sartin, Robert Berry, and Christopher Harris.
With such a crowded ballot, a runoff seems likely between the candidates with the two highest vote totals.
The Democratic ticket hosts all the action in Ward Three, as well. Challengers Ramon Johnson and Lennie Lewis-Bracey both hope to replace incumbent Mary Wilson, who has held office since 2004.
In Ward Four, no Democrats have entered the fray, while on the Republican ballot, challenger Danny Keene attempts to unseat incumbent Shirley Estes, who has represented the ward since winning a 2004 special election.
Incumbent Ward Five Alderman D.W. Maxwell is running for mayor, leaving his seat open. Maxwell held office as a Democrat, but there are no Democratic candidates seeking to replace him.
On the Republican ballot in Ward Five, Martha Arrington and Fletcher Grice are competing to take Maxwell’s place on the board.
Neither has held city office before, but Grice unsuccessfully ran against Maxwell in 2009.
In Ward Six, Mack Gipson and David McCoy are the two Democratic candidates competing to see who’ll challenge independent incumbent David Phillips in the general election. The incumbent has occupied his seat since 2008.
Incumbent Ward Two Alderman Terry Bates is unopposed.
In the alderman at large race, one-term incumbent Karen Sullivan hopes to fend off a Republican primary challenge from Carl Aycock.
Independent candidate Ed Thompson and Democratic candidate Andre’ Spiller are both waiting for the June 4 general election to face the victor of the GOP primary.
With only one candidate in the May 7 primary, the Republican ballot won’t host much action in the mayor’s race.
But, mayoral candidates Joe Poole and David Douglas Smith III will compete on the Democratic ballot. The winner will face independent candidates D.W. Maxwell and Rose “Polly” Powell and Republican Joe Cox in the general election.
Incumbent Mayor Les Bumgarner, an independent, is stepping aside rather than seek re-election to a second term.
In the police chief battle, Assistant Police Chief Bobby Bell hopes to overcome challenger Larry Warren in the Democratic primary.
One of the two will battle Republican Ted Goleman in the general election.
The primaries won’t make any difference for the city clerk’s race. Incumbent Mike Jinks is running as a Republican while lone challenger Maxine Jones is running on the Democratic ticket. Neither faces a primary opponent.