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STALLINGS Harry Stokes' game plan was straightforward. Work hard. Post signs everywhere. Shake lots of hands.
Now he's the new Stallings Town Council member from District 1 - even though his name wasn't on the ballot.
Thirteen towns in Union County elected board members or mayors or both in Tuesday's municipal elections. As of late last week, state elections officials knew of no write-in winners in the metro Charlotte region - except Harry Stokes.
The 50-year-old decided to run for Stallings Town Council in June after the filing deadline. District 1 incumbent council member Al Graham, elected in 2005, was running unopposed.
Stokes said he put together a team to help him decide how to run his campaign.
"I figured I'd have to do three times as much work to be successful," Stokes said. "Then I started knocking on doors and talking to people. I'd walk with the mayor (Lynda Paxton). I'd tell my story, ask people to vote for me and listen to their concerns."
According to Tuesday's unofficial results, Stokes had 965 votes to Graham's 533.
Wednesday, Stokes worked with his campaign volunteers gathering what was left of more than 300 signs he spread across Stallings. He said he spent more than $6,000 of his own money, and did not accept any campaign contributions.
"I didn't want to owe anyone any favors," he said. "My next step is to go through the learning curve of how things will work with Town Council. I want to start the process as soon as possible. I don't want to wait for January. I want to go ahead and dive in and be ready when January comes." His district runs north of U.S. 74 along Lawyer's Road.
Stokes owns two health insurance agencies. He is married to Sherri and has three children, ages 3, 9 and 15. He said he also plans to spend time with his family now that the campaign season is over.
Other results
At least two town races in Union County were unusually close.
County voting officials said they were still canvassing votes in all races late last week. Candidates will have 24 hours afterward (not counting the Veterans Day holiday) to decide whether to ask for recounts.
Other unofficial winners from Tuesday's contested races:
Fairview Town Council: incumbents Jerry Clontz and Bradley Purser.
Hemby Bridge alderman: Rodney Mullis, Kevin Pressley.
Indian Trail town council: This close race had Robert Allen and Darlene Luther with 653 and 650 votes respectively. Closest challengers were Danny Figueroa, 638 and Kathy Broom, 634.
Marshville Town Council: Larry Smith Jr. and Brian Weber.
Marvin mayor: In another close race, incumbent John Ciaramella Jr. had 348 votes to challenger Joseph Barbara's 342. Among Town Council winners were Anthony Burman and Ron Salimao.
Mineral Springs Town Council winners: incumbents Jerry Countryman, Janet Critz and Melody LaMonica.
Stallings mayor: incumbent Lynda Paxton. Town Council: (District 1) Harry Stokes, (District 2) Reed Esarove, (District 3) Wyatt Dunn, (District 6) Paul Frost.
Unionville mayor: incumbent Larry Simpson. Town commissioner: incumbents Ken Brown Jr. and Robert Croutch.
Waxhaw commissioner: incumbent Joyce Blythe, Brett Diller, Erin Kirkpatrick.
Weddington mayor: incumbent Nancy Anderson. Town Council: (District 1) Werner Thomisser, (District 3) Daniel Barry.
Wesley Chapel mayor: Brad Horvath. Town Council: Howard Brotton, Kim Ormiston.
