MAXTON — In the Maxton mayor’s race, incumbent Commissioner Emmett “Chip” Morton soundly defeated Geraldine McLaurin, a former town commissioner, by a vote of 330 to 177, according to unofficial returns.
“The citizens just want a change,” Morton said after Tuesday’s vote. “I’m thankful to God and the citizens that things turned out this way.”
Maxton commissioners will now have to appoint someone to fill Morton’s unexpired term. Morton served on the board for 18 years and currently runs the meat section at the local Safeway Market.
Morton said that as mayor he doesn’t have any specific agenda he plans to push.
“I’m just going to sit down with the new council and come up with a game plan to turn the town around,” he said. “I campaigned with no agenda, just on the issue of bringing unity back to the board. People know I am going to be open and fair.”
Having run for office about seven times in the past 20 years, Morton said has learned never to be overconfident and take for granted the results of an election until all of the votes are declared final.
“You never know for sure what the voters will do,” he said.
Morton, 59, who currently runs the meat section at the local Safeway Market, said he wanted to be mayor to use his experience as a commissioner to bring “unity, leadership and guidance” to the five-member board, whose members he contends have not been working together for the past eight years.
According to Morton, all of the newly elected town board members will make good commissioners. One of their first actions will be to hire a town manager.
“Every one of them is fair, open-minded,” he said. “There is no single group controlling a majority of the board.”
The board
Three challengers emerged from a crowded field of 11 candidates vying for seats on the town board. They are Paul McDowell, who won 250 votes; James McDougald, who won 219 votes; and Elizabeth McEachin Gilmore, who won 179.
Incumbents Cynthia “Tiny” Johnson and Victor Womack lost their seats, earning 125 and 161 votes respectively. The third open seat was vacated by Mark D. McEachin, who did not seek reelection.
Challenger Jean Teeters earned 58 votes; Nathaniel Malloy, 88; Robert Lee McRae, 33; Patricia Johnson, 31; Virgil Hutchinson, 146; and William Harold Seate, 108.
McDowell, 53, is a former Maxton police chief. He now is a case manager for therapeutic foster care. He says the town needs to improve its finances, provide more money to the Police Department for drug enforcement, and offer more recreation and educational activities for young people.
McDougald, 58, is a former town commissioner and owner of Express Laundry. He says Maxton needs to be run like the business it is, business people need to serve as commissioners, and emphasis needs to be placed on recruiting business to the community.
Gilmore, 66, is retired from the Social Security Administration. She says that Maxton “tremendously needs more jobs and business opportunities, greater financial stability, and an increase in social programs for all people.”
