VALDOSTA — It appears an incumbent is staying in office, and at least one runoff election will take place after the Lowndes County municipal elections Tuesday evening.

Preliminary results showed Eric Howard leading the vote tally in City Council District 4 with 115 votes or 44.57 percent of the vote. However, to win the seat outright a candidate must receive 50 percent plus one vote. Howard appears to be poised to go into a runoff election against either Kevin Bussey or Angela Penn on Dec. 5.

The race for who will face Howard in a runoff was too close to call at  press time. Bussey garnered 71 votes or 27.52 percent. Penn received 72 votes or 27.91 percent.

For City Council District 6, Andy Gibbs came out on top by 251 votes or 55.29 percent. Ron Borders got 164 votes or 36.12 percent of the vote. Felix Vayner came in with 39 votes or 8.59 percent of the vote.

Sandra J. Tooley appears to have won her reelection bid for Valdosta City Council District 2 outright with 168 votes or 54.9 percent of the votes.

Vernotis Williams received 138 votes or 45.1 percent of the votes.

Provisional ballots must still be tallied and the final authorized count is not expected until Friday morning, Nov. 10, according to the Lowndes County Board of Elections.

Leading candidates agreed voter turnout for the municipal election was disappointing. 

“I am elated, so happy and excited,” Tooley said. “So, hopefully I can work towards public transportation, public safety and street improvement.

“I would have hoped more citizens got involved with voting. I am thankful to all of those who did come out and vote and supported me,” she said. “I hope we can move forward and make Valdosta a better place.”

Howard said he was thinking positively about the provisional ballots turning in his favor, pushing him over the top of the 50 percent plus one threshold. He said he was happy about winning the most votes but was disappointed with the low turnout. He said he plans to go into the community and thank everyone who supported him.

“If it goes to a runoff, we’re still looking to win,” Howard said.

Gibbs said he was excited about the unofficial votes, but didn’t want to get too excited until the official results are announced. He said he hopes the numbers stay in his favor and looks forward to meeting with other council members.

“Once that’s done, we can start figuring out what comes next,” Gibbs said.

Gibbs said he was a little disheartened by the low turnout overall, but happy with those who turned out for him.

“I would have liked to see more community involvement. Unfortunately, not everyone turned out to vote,” Gibbs said.

CITY OF VALDOSTA SCHOOL BOARD

All candidates were unopposed in their respective races.

Tyra Howard received 227 complimentary votes in the Valdosta School District 4 race.

Trey Sherwood received complimentary votes in the Valdosta School District 5 race.

Tad Moseley received 393 complimentary votes in the Valdosta School District 6 race.

LAKE PARK

Two seats were available on the Lake Park City Council.

Carl Taylor appears to have won a seat in the Lake Park City Council race with 101 votes or 46.33 percent of the votes.

Thomas D. Barr appears to have won a seat in the Lake Park City Council race with 74 votes or 33.94 percent of the votes.

Sharon T. Fountain received 43 votes or 19.72 percent of the votes.

DASHER

Jeff Guilliams appears to have won the Dasher City Council Post 1 race with 73 votes or 58.4 percent of the votes.

Mike Hamm received 22 votes or 17.6 percent of the votes. Chris Webb received 30 votes or 24 percent of the votes.

Donald J. Bryan received 94 complimentary votes for the Dasher City Council Post 2 race.

G.R. Holton received 80 complimentary votes for the Dasher City mayor race.

The unofficial and incomplete results of the city elections came in with 824 total ballots counted, representing about 8.64 percent of eligible registered voters. All results are subject to change when mail-in and provisional ballots are tabulated, and the election is certified by the election commission, expected Friday. 

Jason Smith is a reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times. He can be contacted at 229-244-3400 ext.1257.