By By BETTY MITCHELL GRAY
Staff Writer
Aurora Commissioner Clif Williams, also the town’s mayor pro tempore, won that town’s contested mayoral race Tuesday, according to unofficial vote totals.
Williams will succeed Winnie Douglas, who chose not to seek re-election. The campaign was one of three contested mayoral campaigns in Beaufort County.
Williams won the top Aurora municipal post with 131 votes to 115 votes cast for Walter “W.C” Boyd, according to unofficial returns from the Beaufort County Board of Elections. About 72 percent of Aurora’s 447 registered voters cast ballots in the race — the largest voter turnout in any of the county’s municipal elections.
“I’m very pleased with the way the election went,” Williams said in an interview Tuesday night. “And I’m very, very appreciative of all the people who turned out to vote.”
Williams, 54, who has served on the town board for four years, said he hopes to work to beautify Aurora and develop the town’s waterfront in the coming months.
“A lot is going to depend on the economy,” he said.
In other municipal elections, incumbents Marty Fulton and Jay Hardin won two seats on the Bath Board of Commissioners and two newcomers – Patrick Nash and Jim Pagnani – were among the five candidates who won seats on the Washington Park Board of Commissioners, according to unofficial returns.
Aurora
In addition to the mayoral race, two seats on the Aurora Board of Commissioners were up for election.
Incumbent Patricia Bragg and newcomer John Weeks ran unopposed for the two seats. Bragg received 155 votes while Weeks received 159 votes. They will serve four-year terms on the town board. The two join George A. Jones and Mike Patterson, who were elected to four-year terms on the board in 2007.
Bath
Incumbents Marty Fulton and Jay Hardin defeated challenger Cindy Baldwin for the available seats on the Bath Board of Commissioners.
Baldwin received 37 votes, Fulton received 104 votes and Hardin received 113 votes, according to unofficial returns. About 63 percent of Bath’s 237 registered voters cast ballots. Fulton and Hardin will continue to serve with Mayor Jimmy Latham, Rob Jenner and John A. Taylor who were elected to four years terms in 2007 as mayor and members of the Bath town board, respectively.
Chocowinity
Incumbent Mayor Jimmy Mobley and incumbent Commissioners Billy Albritton and Louise Furman faced no opposition in their campaigns for re-election Tuesday.
Mobley received 24 votes and write-in candidate Charles Flickman received two votes, according to unofficial returns. Albritton and Furman received 24 and 21 votes, respectively, according to unofficial returns. Albritton and Furman continue to serve with M.L. Dunbar and Arlene D. Jones, who were elected in 2007 to four-year terms on the Chocowinity Board of Commissioners. About 5 percent of Chocowinity’s 447 registered voters cast ballots in Tuesday’s races.
Pantego
Incumbent Mayor Glenda A. Jackson and incumbent Commissioners Mart Benson, Richard S. Craig, Robert F. Edwards, Frances Foreman and Stuart Edwin Ricks faced no opposition in Tuesday’s election in Pantego.
They were elected to two-year terms. The unofficial returns from Pantego are as follows: Jackson received 20 votes; Benson, 21 votes; Craig, 19 votes; Edwards, 20 votes; Foreman, 20 votes; and Ricks, 21 votes, according to unofficial returns. About 16 percent of Pantego’s 131 voters cast ballots in Tuesday’s election.
Washington Park
Incumbent Mayor Thomas “Tom” Richter faced no opposition in Tuesday’s election, but six candidates vied for five seats on the Washington Park Board of Commissioners.
Richter received 113 votes, according to unofficial returns. Incumbents Horace B. Cowell, Jeff Peacock and Don Wilkinson received 94, 119 and 108 votes, respectively, returning to serve on the board, while newcomers Patrick Nash and Jim Pagnani secured seats on the board with 116 and 104 votes, respectively, according to unofficial returns.
Incumbent Zane Buckman finished sixth with 82 votes and was not returned to the board. Write-in candidate Ed Talley received 43 votes.
All Washington Park office holders serve two-year terms. About 59 percent of Washington Park’s 354 voters cast ballots in Tuesday’s election.