Bird and Taylor face runoff in Centerville

Residents of Centerville went to the polls on Tuesday, June 15 to voice their opinion—through voting ballots—on who would fill the Post 1 City Council seat that was left vacant when, after serving for two decades, former Councilman Cameron Andrews retired from the position back in April. The special election drew voters to city hall throughout the day and was the primary reason that Centerville Mayor and Council postponed its regularly scheduled work session.

Those vying for the position of Post 1 Council were Susan Lemme, Debbie Taylor and Robert Bird. Houston Home Journal was present at the voting sight on Tuesday as voters filtered in and out of city hall. Supporters of all three contenders were at the roadside holding signs that represented their candidate of choice and waving at passersby that drove past the site.

Once the polls were closed and the ballots were all in and counted, there was no clear victor to the race. Andy Holland of Houston County Board of Elections told The Journal that only 9.99% of Centerville’s voters participated in this special elections. He also confirmed that the results of Tuesday’s race will require a runoff to decide one winner since no single candidate received the mandatory “50% plus one vote” required in order to avoid a runoff.

According to Holland, voters are going to have to go back and make a decision between Bird and Taylor. Although the numbers are still considered unofficial at this time, Holland said, “Robert Bird was the frontrunner with 241 votes and Debbie Taylor finished with 183 votes—that’s 42.36% and 32.16% respectively.” Holland mentioned that Lemme received 145 votes, which represents 25.48% of the total votes cast.

The runoff election is set to take place on Tuesday, July 13.

HHJ News