Shewbart wins Red Bay mayor’s race; council seat heads to runoff

RED BAY — Challenger Mike Shewbart defeated incumbent Mayor Charlene Fancher in Tuesday’s municipal election, while the city council Place 3 seat is headed to a runoff.  

Shewbart received 439 votes to Fancher’s 379, securing the mayor’s office. Rodney Belue withdrew from the race earlier in the month.  

In the three-way race for council Place 3, Jonathon Strickland led with 314 votes, followed by incumbent Herbert Trulove with 283 and Kathryn Cantrell Wilkins with 207.  

Because no candidate received more than 50% of the vote, Strickland and Trulove will advance to a runoff scheduled for Sept. 23. 

With four of the city’s five council members declared duly elected for new terms after receiving no opposition for the election, their names did not appear on the ballot: Place 1, Mike Kennedy; Place 3, Jarod Massey; Place 4, Jason Vinson; Place 5, Brad M. Bolton. 

Absentee ballots accounted for 47 votes in total. Fancher received 25 and Shewbart 22 in the mayor’s race, while Strickland took 7, Trulove 14 and Wilkins 23 in the council race. 

At the Senior Citizens Center precinct, 773 ballots were cast. Shewbart received 417 votes to Fancher’s 354 for mayor, and Strickland led the council tally with 307, followed by Trulove with 269 and Wilkins with 184. 

Overall turnout in Red Bay’s election was 820 voters. 

In its Aug. 20 meeting, the Red Bay City Council voted to move its next regular meeting from Sept. 3 to Sept. 2 so the session could coincide with the state-required canvass — the formal certification of results — from the Aug. 26 municipal election.  

The meeting will begin at noon and will include regular council business.