Election roundup by town

Cleveland
The incumbents were re-elected Tuesday night, with Mayor James A. “Jim” Brown claiming a seventh, two-year term as mayor with 52 votes. He ran unopposed.
Commissioners Mary Frank “Frankie” Fleming-Adkins and John C. Bradford were both re-elected to third, four-year terms.
Bradford led the ballot with 52 votes or 39 percent of the total followed by Fleming-Adkins with 49 votes or 37 percent. Leonard Maxwell “Max” West, in his first bid for political office, had 33 votes or 25 percent.

East Spencer
Voters elected a new member to the Board of Aldermen on and returned Mayor Erma Jefferies to her seat for a fourth term.
Challenger Theodore Gladden took one of three seats up for election on the town board, joining incumbents John Noble and Carlton Ellis. Deloris High, who was seeking a third term on the board, came in fourth, but only two votes behind Ellis in unofficial results.
It was unclear Tuesday night whether there are any provisional ballots to be counted for East Spencer when the county Board of Elections canvasses the results next week. Even if there aren’t additional votes that could potentially change the results, High could ask for a recount, since the vote was so close.
However, High said she would not ask for a recount if she remains in fourth place once the results are certified.

Faith
Five unopposed incumbents were re-elected to the Faith Board of Aldermen.
Gary Gardner, Bill Johnson, Todd Peeler, Maxey Sanderson and Mark Shores will continue making town decisions in the next term.
Faith aldermen serve two-year terms; Bill Johnson, Maxey Sanderson and Todd Peeler were elected to their first term in 2005.
Johnson was the leading vote-getter for the second election in a row. But the 36 votes he received was down from the 149 he got in 2005.
Todd Peeler was next with 32 votes, Gardner had 30, Shores 29 and Sanderson 25.
Aldermen nominate a mayor when the new board takes office. Typically, Aldermen nominate the candidate who received the most votes in the election.

Granite Quarry
Only seven votes separate a former alderman and a write-in candidate for the final seat on the Granite Quarry town board.
Former board member Jim LaFevers has apparently reclaimed his seat over current Mayor Pro Tem Bill Feather.
Feather announced shortly after the filing period ended that he forgot to file but planned to organize a write-in campaign.
That campaign won Feather 94 votes but it wasn’t enough to best LaFever’s 101 vote count.

Kannapolis
Voters re-elected Richard Anderson, Kenneth Geathers and Roger Haas to the Kannapolis City Council.
The three incumbents won by decisive margins. With 41 of 42 precincts reporting in Cabarrus County, Geathers had received 1,065 votes, Richard Anderson had 1,053 and Roger Haas had received 922.
Among the challengers, David Baucom received 736 votes, John Williams had 425 votes, and 406 votes were cast for Jim Harkins.
Voter turnout was light, with 11.8 percent of registered voters casting ballots in Cabarrus County, according to the Cabarrus Board of Elections.

Rockwell
In a race filled with incumbents, it was those who ran as first-time aldermen that garned the largest majority of votes.
As the top vote-getter for Board of Aldermen, “I am very pleased, very happily surprised,” newcomer Tim Draper said.
Draper received 285 votes or 20.27 percent.
Returning to the board are incumbents Jeannie Misenheimer with 230 votes or 16.36 percent, Bill Ridenhour with 196 votes or 13.94 percent and Chuck Wingerson with 246 votes or 17.50 percent.

Spencer
Spencer voters returned three incumbents to the Board of Aldermen.
And another former alderman, Scott Benfield, was voted back on the board as a write-in candidate.
But it was a newcomer to the aldermen’s race, Jeff Morris, who led all candidates with 309 votes.
Joining him and Benfield on the board will be incumbents Nick Bishop, C.E. Spear and Kenneth Womble, plus Donnie Hinson, the town’s former police chief.