Bessemer voters went to the polls Tuesday, Sept. 22, to settle the mayor’s race and four other contests left undecided by the Aug. 25 municipal election.
Final results were not available when the Star went to press Tuesday night. Full results will appear in next week’s edition.
The runoff for mayor pairs incumbent Kenneth Gulley, in office for 16 years, with Louise Alexander. In the four-candidate first round, Gulley received 1,809 votes and Alexander 1,644, with Darral Bethel at 466 and Brenita Ingram Lewis at 91, according to the official results certified by the City Council.
In the District 6 City Council race, Valerie Williams, who led the Aug. 25 field with 217 votes, faces incumbent Carla Foreman Jackson, who received 180. Tonia Miller received 164 and Lakia Carter Reeves 46.
In District 7, incumbent Cleo King, who received 266 votes, faces Silas Baldwin, who received 191. Howard Acoff Jr. received 79.
Two Board of Education seats are also on the runoff ballot.
In District 5, incumbent Margie Varner, who received 142 votes, faces Omar Chapman, who received 107, from a field of six. In District 6, Grover Dunn, who received 230, faces Darryl V. Aikerson, who received 217, from a field of five.
Bethel, who finished third for mayor, sued Gulley, Lewis and City Clerk Wanda Taylor in the Bessemer Division of Jefferson County Circuit Court on Aug. 26, asking the court to review Gulley’s residency, and on Sept. 8 asked Judge David Hobdy to rule before the runoff or hold the mayoral portion of it.
Gulley moved Sept. 14 to dismiss the suit, and after a hearing the morning of Sept. 16, Hobdy granted the motion that afternoon, ruling that Bethel’s complaint did not allege facts that could show Gulley had moved his legal residence out of the city.
Bethel filed a sworn request Sept. 18 for a new election excluding the candidates he challenged; it was pending Tuesday, with a hearing setting of Oct. 26 still on the case.
Winners take office the first Monday in November, Nov. 2, along with the council and board members elected outright Aug. 25.
