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Woods elected mayor; Williams tops vote among commissioners
Davidson voters elected John 
Woods (photo) as mayor Tuesday, giving him 1,521 votes or 67 percent of the vote with
all the ballots counted, according unofficial results from the Mecklenburg Board of Elections. William E. Jackson Jr. received 733 votes or 32 percent.
In the Board of Commissioners race, incumbents Margo Williams and Evan Webster both were re-elected. Also earning seats were political newcomers Laurie Venzon, Brian Jenest and Bill Johnson. About 40 percent of Davidson’s registered voters cast ballots. (Turnout figure corrected Nov. 9 on new information from the Board of Elections - the editor).
Mr. Woods, who is a Davidson native, will be sworn in next month, along with the Town Board. He will replace Randy Kincaid, who is retiring.
“Obviously I’m very glad the election campaign is over. We are ready to get back to work. I am thrilled and I am nervous and I am excited about the opportunity to be mayor of Davidson,” he said Tuesday night.
Mr. Woods is a Davidson native and had served on the Town Board 10 years, the last six as Mayor Pro-Tem, a title that traditionally goes to the top vote getter.
PLEDGE: MORE OPEN GOVERNMENT
The race for mayor was bitterly fought, with Mr. Jackson alleging that Mr. Woods and Town Board members had engaged in “behind the scenes” deals and put the town at risk by voting to buy the local cable TV system.
Mr. Woods said Tuesday night he hopes to rebuild trust between residents and Town Hall.
“The great lesson that I’ve learned in this experience has been the need for the best level of communication with all of our citizens,” he said. “And I will focus over the next two years on finding better ways to communicate more thoroughly with all of our citizens.”
PRECINCT VOTES DIFFER
In the board race, Ms. Williams and Mr. Webster were re-elected despite criticism by some other candidates for decisions they made over the past two years. Those include the cable deal, developments at Exit 30, and approval of a controversial land swap that gave property owner Lawrence Kimbrough an exemption from the town’s affordable housing requirement for land he owns off Pine Road.
Interestingly, Mr. Webster was not among the top five in either of Davidson’s two precincts. In Precinct 206 (Town Hall) Fountain Walker was the fifth-highest vote getter, receiving one vote more than Mr. Webster’s total of 636 votes. In Precinct 127 (Hopewell Baptist Church), Rodney Graham placed fifth with 480 votes, 73 ahead of sixth-place Mr. Webster.
The total for both precincts, along with absentee and early ballots, listed Ms. Williams receiving 1427 votes, or 15 percent, the highest vote total among the board candidates. She was followed by:
- Laurie Venzon, 1415 votes, 15 %
- Brian Jenest, 1320 votes, 14 %
- Bill Johnson, 1288 votes, 13 %
- Evan Webster, 1058 votes, 11%
The remaining candidates, who were not elected to a seat on the board received the following vote totals: Fountain Walker, 1013 votes; Lenny McAllister, 951; Rodney Graham, 937; and Ian Robb (who dropped from the campaign but could not remove his name from the ballot), 232.
Voter turnout for Davidson was 39.6 percent, or 2461 out of 6473 registered voters.
Elections officials said earlier in the day turnout was running slightly higher than normal for local elections in Mecklenburg County today. Voters lined up at Davidson Town Hall beginning early this morning, and flowed in a steady stream until past 9:30. Polls are open until 7:30 p.m. Election results for Davidson and other local races, the school board, the bond issues and the transit tax repeal are on the Mecklenburg County Board of Elections website.
More about today’s election on DavidsonNews.net
Filed under: Election 2007, Links
Thanks, DavidsonNews.net, for your excellent coverage of the local elections. Typically on election week, I scour the Charlotte Observer, trying to find out who’s who and who stands for what. I’m often frustrated by an inability to find the information. This election was different. On DavidsonNews.net, I was able to download a document in which candidates explained their qualifications and positions. I have never before felt so informed going to a local election. You are performing a valuable community service.
One interesting factoid about the election was that out of the about 3000 people who voted and could vote for mayor (there were a few hundred votes from people who live in the ETJ and cannot vote for mayor or board), about 50% voted for John Woods, 25% for Bill Jackson, and fully 25% voted for “none of the above.” This “none of the above” vote was much greater than previous elections. I’m not sure what it means, but I throw it out there for those of you who like to analyze election results.
I noticed the same thing, Rodney. And there aren’t enough voters in 206 and 127 outside the TOD to account for all 1000. But in 127, for example, only 240 more people voted for or against the Repeal. Perhaps BOE messed up?
Was there a large under-vote for mayor in Davidson, in which voters may have signaled unhappiness with both candidates by not voting? Mecklenburg Elections Director Michael Dickerson said Friday morning he doesn’t think so.
Mr. Dickerson said turnout figures issued by his office are not accurate because they artificially inflate turnout in each race – including for Davidson mayor — by nearly 900 votes.
The change means both a lower turnout percentage for Davidson (40 percent actual vs. 52 percent originally reported) as well as a narrower difference between the total number of votes and the votes for mayor.
Mr. Dickerson and other elections officials said most of the difference is accounted for by citizens who vote in Davidson precincts but live outside the town limits in unincorporated parts of Mecklenburg County. They are ineligible to vote for Davidson elected offices.
We’ve been looking into the issue at the suggestion of Rodney Graham, who was unsuccessful in his campaign for Town Board Tuesday. Mr. Graham wondered why there appeared to be a large number of no-votes for mayor. (See comment above)
Mr. Dickerson said turnout figures are inaccurate on the Board of Elections Website, and in downloadable elections data spreadsheets, because they include county-wide totals for absentee and curbside votes (votes by people unable to leave their cars). A look at the spreadsheet shows that in each race countywide, 671 absentee and 114 curbside votes, or a total of 885 votes, were added to turnout totals.
Mr. Dickerson said the inflated turnout total is the result of a system change in the 2006 election and does not affect turnout reports from 2005 and before. He did not say if there were any plans to correct the reporting system.
Subtracting that 885 figure from Davidson results, the turnout was 2,461 out of 6473 registered voters, or 39.6 percent. In the mayor’s race, the total of candidates John Woods (1525), William E. Jackson Jr. (734) and write-ins (10) is 2269, or 292 less than the total turnout in the town’s two precincts.
That’s about the number of voters who live outside the town limits and are not eligible to vote for town offices. But it also may include some voters who chose not to vote in the race.
One Davidson resident who works at the polls told us it’s probably a combination of the two. “Both Davidson precincts include voters who live in Mecklenburg County but not in the Davidson town limits. And I can say with certainty that some voters did not vote in the mayor’s race. There are always folks who are interested only in voting for one candidate or issue on the ballot,” the poll worker said.
Mr. Dickerson did not have immediate figures on the exact number of Davidson voters who live outside the town limits.
The 292-vote difference between turnout and mayoral votes equals 11.4 percent of the total turnout this year. That’s actually below the 18- to 21 percent average in Davidson mayoral elections going back to 1997. Most elections during that time had Mayor Randy Kincaid running uncontested. Interestingly, the last time the ratio of no-votes was this low was 1999, when Mayor Kincaid faced a challenge from resident Tobin Henry and no-votes were 9.5 percent of the total turnout. So in Davidson’s case, a contested mayoral election appears actually to inspire more people to cast ballots than an uncontested one.
Tuesday’s turnout was heavier than normal county-wide - and in Davidson - because of intense interest not only in town races, but also in ballot questions, including the $516 million school bonds and the proposal to repeal the 1/2-cent sales tax for transit.