ELIZABETHTOWN — The town of Elizabethtown will not see any changes to its town council after election day.
With a total of 1,426 voters turning out, incumbent Paula Greene walked away with the most — 409, or 28.68 percent — of the votes. Following her was incumbent Rufus Lloyd, with 26.23 percent of the votes, or 374. Taking the third and final spot on the board was incumbent Herman Lewis, who garnered 23.28 percent of the ballots cast, or 332 votes.
Challenging all three for a seat was Bobby Kinlaw, who 308 people — or 21.6 percent of the voters — selected. Three votes were cast for write-in candidates.
“There are a few things (for which) I think the town would have benefited from a different direction, but for my first political race, and against three incumbents, I’m pleased with how I did and with the campaign we ran,” Kinlaw stated. “I knew from the start it would be a tight race.”
Tight it was, with Kinlaw and Lewis volleying back and forth for the third spot. With 314 ballots cast during absentee and one-stop voting, Lewis was leading Kinlaw by 12 votes — 171 to 159 prior to election day. After Elizabethtown 2 returned its election day results, Kinlaw took the lead by two votes, as the residents in that district preferred Kinlaw to Lewis 45 to 31.
In the end, it was Elizabethtown 1 that tipped the scales in Lewis’ favor, bringing him an additional 130 votes to Kinlaw’s 104.
Kinlaw also voiced disappointment concerning the overall turnout for the election. Though not surprising — Board of Elections Director Cynthia Shaw said it was commensurate with past municipal elections — the numbers were low, reflecting just over one-fifth of the registered voters. The town has 2,603 voters registered, and only 587 of them cast ballots.
The numbers in town were in keeping with those in the rest of the county. Of the 5,668 voters eligible to vote in the municipal election, only 22 percent cast ballots, according to the Bladen County Board of Elections.
Chrysta Carroll can be reached by calling 910-862-4163 or emailing ccarroll@bladnejournal.com.