MONROE

Voters in Monroe were to elect three town council members from a field of 10 Tuesday, but the three winners may not be known until November.

As dozens of people milled around in the Griffith Room of the Monroe Public Library, there were rumblings that a runoff election would be needed.

In the council race, incumbent John Ashcraft was the leader with 755 votes, followed by Margaret Desio (697), Freddie Gordon (686), Surlata Anthony (417), Bonnie Rushing (372), Bob Curry (303), Richard Alexander (188), Benjie Mullis (111), Joe Clough (74) and Lee Little (40),

According to Union County voting officials, a clear winner needed to get at least 50 percent of the votes cast, plus one. None of the candidates reached that plateau. It now is up to the candidates to ask for a runoff.

Results of the mayor's race were clear, however, as voters confirmed what they already knew heading into Tuesday's municipal election: Bobby Kilgore will continue leading the town.

Kilgore ran unopposed and will serve his third term.

Unofficial results, with all 15 precincts reported Tuesday night, showed that 3,647 votes had been cast. Kilgore got 1,138 votes.

Voter turnout was light. The city has 16,573 registered voters.

In other municipal elections Tuesday:

Incumbent Hickory City Council member Z. Ann Hoyle and challenger Hank Guess were the top vote-getters in the race for the Ward 4 council seat and will face each other in the general election.

Hoyle won 118 votes Tuesday to 110 for Guess. The third candidate, Larry Pope, had 61 votes.

Incumbent District 3 council member John Cantrell held onto his seat, defeating challenger Beverly Carlton by a 1,041 to 468 margin.

In District 4, Dr. Alfred Hamer Jr., the incumbent, defeated Scott Jackson, 962-558.

In Albemarle in Stanly County, two candidates were locked in a tight race for one city council at-large seat.

With four of eight precincts reporting, Judy Holcomb had 327 votes and Roosevelt (Chuck) Horne had 322.

Three council seats were on the ballot in Shelby in Cleveland County. With all 10 precincts reporting, unofficial results included:

In the Ward 1 race, Chris Mabry led with 687 votes to Larry Henson's 154.

In Ward 4, Joel Shores topped the competition with 443 votes, with 304 for Donna Huie-Brooks and 167 for Steve Roderick.

Mike Putnam in Ward 4 was unopposed.

Statesville voters elected a mayor and City Council members in a nonpartisan election Tuesday.

In the mayoral election, incumbent Constantine “Costi” Kutteh was challenged by Chris Bumgarner, 39, who was born in Statesville and returned last year to start a weekly newspaper after a brief absence.

Kutteh, a 57-year-old real estate attorney seeking his second full two-year term, noted accomplishments from his first term – including the construction of a physical fitness center and swimming pool, plans for a new fire station and an improvement project at Statesville Regional Airport.

Bumgarner said the major challenge the city faces is the need for more jobs.

The five City Council members elected will serve four-year terms. Incumbents John Gregory and Cecil Stallard were challenged for their at-large seats by Gene Houpe, Peter Molleur, Richard Pavelock and Kevin Ross.

In Ward 2, incumbent C.O. “Jap” Johnson ran unopposed.

In Ward 3, Bonita Eisele, who was elected in 2007 to fill the unexpired term of a retiring member, ran for her first full term. She was opposed by David Jackson, who ran unsuccessfully for the council two years ago.

In Ward 4, incumbent Ron Matthews faced challengers Brian “Hook” Pickrell and John Staford.

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