Share
Gaston voters shuffled the political deck in the county's cities and towns Tuesday, getting rid of some old faces, bringing in new ones and reinstalling a few former city officials.
Across the county, voter turnout in the municipal elections was 17.65 percent. A total of 85 candidates were in the running.
According to complete but unofficial returns, former Mount Holly Mayor Bryan Hough scored an easy win over former City Council member Phyllis Harris in the mayoral race.
Hough got 582 votes and Harris 299.
Hough was on the Mount Holly City Council from 1997 until 2003, when he was elected mayor. He didn't seek re-election in 2005.
Now, Hough said, his children are older, and he felt like it was the right time to run again.
"I always enjoyed it," he said. "It was a pretty natural decision."
In the races for three seats on the Mount Holly City Council, incumbents Jerry Bishop and David Moore were re-elected. Bishop had 442 votes and Moore 646. Jim Hope, who lost his council seat in the last election, made a comeback with 523 votes.
Others running for the City Council were Donnie Miller Dotson, 243 votes; Drew Foster, 389 votes; and Marty Knox Greely, 205 votes.
Belmont Mayor Richard Boyce, who ran unopposed, will serve with a City Council that has a new face: Bill Toole, who got 480 votes, edging past incumbent Dick Cromlish who had 456.
Two seats were open on the council. Incumbent Charlie Martin was top vote-getter with 554 votes. Candidate Richard Turner got 390 votes.
No candidates filed in the town of Spencer Mountain, but incumbents were unofficially elected as write-ins: Mayor Janice Abernethy and Town Council members Joe Abernethy, Henry Graham and Steve Braswell.
All four write-ins got five votes each. Spencer Mountain has 29 registered voters. The turnout Tuesday was eight - double the number from 2007, according to Gaston County Board of Elections Director Frances Pinion.
In other races:
Cramerton: Mayor Pro-Tem Ronnie Worley beat incumbent Mayor Ronald Murphy for the mayor's post.
Worley got 484 votes and Murphy 255 votes.
Two seats were open on the town commission. Winners were incumbent Houston Helms with 382 votes and newcomer Will Cauthen with 279.
Also running were Hugh Howell, 163 votes; Joel Lineberger, 176 votes; Thurman Linker, 152 votes; and Sandra Ware, 175 votes.
Bessemer City: Incumbent Mayor Bob Hovis narrowly defeated challenger Greg Farris, 238 to 221 votes.
Ward 1: Incumbent Wayne Massagee lost to D. C. Boling, 192 to 186.
Ward 2: Incumbent Kay McCathen and Ward 3 candidate Joe Will ran unopposed.
Ward 4: Incumbent Melanie Neal Colvin beat challenger Howard Jones, 225 to 201 votes.
Ward 5: Incumbent Becky Smith was re-elected with 278 votes to challenger Andy Herring's 178.
Ward 6: Incumbent Jim Long, with 148 votes, lost to Donnie Griffin, with 173 votes.
Cherryville: Incumbent Mayor Bob Austell got 677 votes, winning re-election over Dennis Neill with 188 votes.
Ward 1: Davis Browne won with 479 votes over incumbent Frank Osborne, who got 390 votes.
Ward 3: Incumbent Nell Parker lost a tight race to J. Rick Campbell, 418 to 434.
Dallas: Town Alderman (3 seats): Top vote-getters were Allen Huggins, 218 votes; incumbent Scott Martin, 216 votes; and John Beaty, 166 votes.
Other candidates were Fred Cloninger, 52 votes; incumbent Jack Etter, 162 votes; and Mark Rider, 104 votes.
High Shoals: Dan Weekly ran unopposed for mayor.
City Council: Top vote-getters were Claude Crain, 92 votes; Kelly Pate, 79 votes; and Michael Mason, 71 votes.
William Dennis Cash got 53 votes. Winners are unclear because there were 93 write-ins.
Lowell: Incumbent Mayor Judy Horne beat former mayor Larry Simonds 358 to 113 votes.
City Council (5 seats): Top vote-getters were incumbent Rickie Bush, 331 votes; Sam Mitchem, 319; incumbent Martha Burris, 337; incumbent Terry Benson, 316; incumbent Chad Hawkins, 307. Mitchem is a former board member.
Also running were incumbent Randy Howell, 173 votes; incumbent Jim Kiser, 254 votes.
McAdenville: Town Council (3 seats): Top vote-getters were Gent Simmons, 66 votes; Darrell Ethridge, 65 votes; Jesse Bachman, 63.
Other candidates were Russell Dirks, 60 votes; Mike Phillips, 31 votes; and David Smith, 43 votes.
Ranlo: Mayor Steve Alexander ran unopposed.
Town Commission (5 seats): Winners were Scott Clark, 250 votes; Lynn Black, 224; Cathy Lewis, 208; Linda Rhyne, 183; Jason Williams, 190.
Other candidates were Beth Greene, 150 votes; Margaret Huddleston, 138 votes; Jamey Jones, 44 votes; Ronnie Laws, 161 votes; Wade Morton, 146 votes.
Stanley: Chad Brown defeated Judith Johnson for mayor, 374 to 136 votes.
Town Council Ward 1: Gail Rhyne Brotherton beat Charles Withers, 308 to 189 votes.
Town Council Ward 5: Andrew Quinley was top vote-getter with 166 votes. Caroline Reid Howard got 133 votes; Jim McGinnis 131 and John Fishe 79.
Gastonia had no election because the city switched from two-year terms to four-year terms in 2007.
