LAURINBURG — James “Jim” Willis was reelected mayor of Laurinburg after securing 51% of the vote following Tuesday’s municipal election.
Willis obtained more votes than Loretta McNeil, who was also seeking the mayoral seat. Willis secured 839 votes to McNeil’s 774.
“I knew this was going to be close … It was a close election but from now on going forward, I’m working for every single citizen of Laurinburg,” Willis on the verge of tears said Tuesday night.
Willis said he couldn’t take credit for all of the success Laurinburg has seen in the past few years.
“We got so much good stuff happening in Laurinburg,” Willis said. “I can’t take credit for all of it but I can take credit for this, before me, the last administration was chaos. It was terrible. There was no communication between the council members. There was zero communication to the city manager. From day one, I worked hard on that. I worked hard on my relationship between every single one of these council members”
In his speech, Willis said he was “hurt” that a fellow council member publically supported his opponent.
He appeared to be speaking of Barbara Chenei Rogers who wrote on Facebook, “I’m excited to see a long time mentor and exemplar woman veteran and friend running for mayor of our city. She has lived a lifetime of service and sacrifice for others and is more than deserving of your vote!”
“Obviously I’ve got more work to do in that area,” Willis said.
Willis will serve another four-year term as mayor.
Incumbents Mary Jo Adams, District 2, and Rosemary Rainer, District 1, were also reelected after facing no opposition. Adams still secured 763 votes while Rainer received 607 votes.
All of these totals are unofficial until certified by the North Carolina State Board of Elections.