New mayors for Hilliard, Callahan

The voters have spoken and Hilliard and Callahan each have new mayors. 

Floyd Vanzant is Hilliard’s new mayor with 554 votes to incumbent Cris McConnell's 475. Callahan Councilman Marty Fontes moves over to the mayoral position Nov. 19.

Vanzant’s granddaughter, Callie Kay Bishop, won one of two open town council seats while current council president John Beasley was reelected. Bishop received the most votes at 509 while Beasley netted 486.

The next closest candidate was Robert Scully with 269 votes. Debbie Sherwood received 198 and write-in candidate Kim Frey earned 138. Voters could select two candidates for town council, but a total of 544 eligible voters under-voted, meaning they either only voted for one or did not vote at all.

In the mayoral race, 43 under-votes were counted.

Fontes defeated current Mayor Bobby Rau by six votes – 241 to 235. A total of 65 ballots were cast without a mayoral selection.

Town of Hilliard residents also cast their votes in a straw poll asking whether citizens thought alcohol sales should be allowed at restaurants and clubs within town limits. A total of 631 voters – 60.38 percent – said sales should be allowed while 414 voters disagreed. Twenty-seven voters chose not to weigh in on the matter.

In the Nassau County Commission, District 4 race, write-in candidate William Kruse withdrew from the race after Thomas Ford won the Primary contest against incumbent George Spicer. Though some citizens thought they could write-in Spicer in the General Election, he was not eligible as a write-in candidate. The position was still on the ballot, but votes in the matter did not count since an eligible write-in candidate was not on file with the supervisor of elections. Ford automatically took the seat.

Aaron Bell won the District 2 county commission seat during the Primary Election.