Ron Anders Jr. and David B. Hill will face off in October to decide who will be Auburn's next mayor after the city's 20-year mayor, Bill Ham, decided not to seek re-election.
Neither Anders nor Hill reached 50 percent of the vote, the threshold to avoid a runoff. Anders led with 42.50 percent or 3638 votes, while David Hill trailed with 29.05 percent or 2486 votes.
"I'm very proud. I'm very proud over 3,600 people in Auburn thought that I would be the best choice for mayor," said Anders, who previously served as a member of the City Council. "That's very exciting, and that's a great launching point to keep moving ahead for the next six weeks and to continue to tell the great story of Auburn's future, which I'm very passionate about."
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The runoff election is scheduled for Oct. 9, 2018.
"I feel very good in that today a majority of Auburn voters voted for change," Hill said. "Only 40-something percent voted to keep going down the same path we've been going in certain policy areas for Auburn. Now I think it's going to be a clear choice between two directions."
The City Council will face massive turnover this year. Only two incumbents, Ward 3 Councilwoman Beth Witten, who ran unopposed, and Ward 8 Councilman Tommy Dawson, who won back his seat on the City Council, will remain. Dawson captured 52.34 percent of the vote over Marlene Bowman's 47.66 percent.
Mayoral results
Witten has already been confirmed for her next term.
"It's amazing to see the number of people that ran both for mayor and the council races," Ham said. "It's an incredibly large group, but I think the end result is going to be good. It's pretty grueling for the last couple of months and then you end up going again for six more weeks. All in all, I think it was a good process."
Ham, who is 64, decided that 32 years on the City Council — 20 of which he spent as mayor — was where he would cap what he called his "civic rent." After deciding not to seek re-election, Ham endorsed Anders, who served as the mayor pro tempore on the City Council.
The first time Ham talked with Anders about filling his spot was actually four years ago, when Ham approached then-Ward 2 Councilman Anders about Ham's fifth term being his last. Ham said he would only leave his post if they were able to pass a number of initiatives, Ham told The Plainsman earlier this month.
He did decide his fifth would be his last.
"Ron ran a very credible, straight-up, honorable race and there is no question in my mind about his involvement in the community. I still stand by the fact that he's the right guy for the job," Ham said. "I'm hopeful that now he's able to win in the runoff."
In Ward 1, Connie Fitch Taylor unseated Verlinda J. White, a temporary appointee on the council. Taylor won the seat outright with 69.05 percent over White's 30.95 percent.
Kelley Griswold and Todd. D. Scholl will be in a runoff for Ward 2. Brett Smith and Jim Ryan will be in a runoff for Ward 4. Steven Dixon and Walter M. Northcutt will be in a runoff for Ward 5. Sarah Brown and Bob Parsons will be in a runoff for Ward 6.
The only other candidate to win a new seat on the City Council outright was Jay Hovey, who captured 54 percent of the vote to win a seat on the council representing Ward 7.
All in all, six of the eight seats on the City Council will be new arrivals. And Auburn will have a new mayor after the runoff in October.
"Experience is a big deal, and there's a lot to learn," Ham said. "I still learn something new every day. That's one of the reasons that I favor Ron's experience. He's been there for six years, four of those as pro tem, and he's able to lead a council and particularly a vast majority of new members. Maybe I apply too much logic."
The new voices on the council — and Hill's potential new voice as mayor — would be good for the city, Hill said.
"We're knocking on doors," Hill said. "We're trying to make a clear presentation with what we think are our differences with Ron Anders and the establishment here in Auburn. So I think we'll try to do just do more of that and maybe try to do it a little better."
Hill said his team would have liked it to have been over Tuesday night, but they're "fired up."
"One thing I'm really happy about is that I am going to be able to engage with students," Hill said. "I tried to connect with students even back when they weren't in school. That timing is not good because of the time of year, but it's perfect now. Also football starts Saturday, so that will be a little bit of a diversion from knocking on doors."
Anders said his team is staying engaged and ready to finish the race.
"I've got so many supporters who want to see this through to the end," Anders said. "We'll regroup, and we'll get a plan together, and we'll keep pushing ahead. Oct. 9 is six weeks away, and I've been working on this for many years of my life. We're not going to let six weeks get in the way of us."
Anders, whose family founded and owned Anders Bookstore on Magnolia Avenue until it was sold in 2005, said students are important in this race.
"Hopefully this is an opportunity for students to get re-engaged now that they've got six more weeks," Anders said. "I love Auburn students. I want to develop a deeper, more meaningful relationship between the students and the City of Auburn. I think you're the greatest untapped resource in this community."
Correction: The original version of this article stated that Jim Ryan and Brett Smith were in a runoff for Ward 3. They are, in fact, in a runoff for Ward 4. We regret the error.
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Chip Brownlee, senior in journalism and political science, is the editor-in-chief of The Auburn Plainsman.
Elizabeth, senior in journalism and political science, is the community editor for The Plainsman
