Midway voters Tuesday re-elected Mayor Dr. Clemontine Washington and incumbent council members Curtes Roberts Sr., Mayor Pro-tem Levern Clancy Jr. and Melice Gerace. Stanley Brown Sr. will be sworn in when outgoing council member Terry Doyle’s term is up at the end of the calendar year. Midway’s mayor and council serve four-year terms.
Doyle challenged Washington for the mayoral seat. Doyle has served on the Midway City Council for 3.5 years. Out of 351 votes cast in the mayoral race, Washington received 218 votes and Doyle received 133 votes.
Len Calderone and former Midway mayor Don Emmons also ran for council seats. Political newcomer and local businessman Chirag Patel also ran for Midway City Council.
A total of 1,109 votes were cast in the council race. Clancy received 216 votes, Brown got 196 votes, Roberts netted 171 votes, and Gerace received 150 votes. Emmons received 147 votes, Patel tallied 119 votes and Calderone received 108 votes. There were two write-in votes.
When asked how election day was going around mid-morning Tuesday, Washington said she was feeling positive about the outcome.
At about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Doyle said only “a trickle” of voters could be seen going into the polling station on the backside of the Midway Police Department.
“It is still slow,” Doyle said. “I’ve not seen two cars in the last two hours.”
He said he hoped more people would stop to cast ballots on their way home from work.
Doyle admitted the sparse turnout was disappointing but not surprising, since there was not a county or national election being held.
“I’m not really certain there will be that big a turnout,” he said.
Midway had 160 voters vote early at the Midway polling place as of Nov. 1, according to Liberty County Elections Supervisor Ella Golden.
As of 3 p.m. Tuesday, the numbers of voters who voted early in the Hinesville referendums election and those who voted early in the Midway municipal election had not been separated, according to Golden.
“We’ll see what happens about 4:30 or 5 o’clock when people start returning home from Savannah or Hinesville,” Doyle said.
Election results are unofficial until certified.
Slow voting re-elects Midway incumbents
