Grantham leads Smith in Saltillo mayoral race
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Apr. 7—SALTILLO — There could be a lot of new faces at Saltillo City Hall after Tuesday's elections.
Challenger Copey Grantham held a 16-vote lead over two-term incumbent Rex Smith Tuesday night in a mayoral race that was too close to call. The race could be settled Wednesday when affidavit ballots are counted.
In the race for aldermen, 14 candidates split the vote. Because of that, only three candidates got the mathematical majority needed to win a seat outright. The next four top vote-getters will face off in the April 27 runoff for the final two seats.
Grantham, a first-term aldermen, finished the night with 483 votes, compared to Smith's 467 votes. There are still 16 affidavit votes to count, as well as 6 absentee votes outstanding. The absentee ballots must be postmarked by election day and received at city hall within five days to be counted.
"I want to congratulate Copey for being the lead vote-getter tonight," Smith said. "It will be hard to make up that many votes. We've got a long way to go, but we're not going to give up."
Grantham was excited about the outcome but was not ready to claim victory Tuesday night.
"We will have to wait until Wednesday to see what happens," Grantham said. "I do want to thank everyone for all the support I got. I appreciate the good clean race between both candidates."
Election officials will meet at city hall at noon Wednesday to try to resolve any issues with the 16 affidavit ballots. If Grantham emerges from that meeting with more than a 6-vote lead, he will effectively win the election.
People have to vote affidavit if they are not on the poll book, there is a question whether they live inside the city limits or did not bring a photo ID, IN the last case, the voter has five days to bring a valid photo ID to city hall to have their vote counted.
Crowded aldermen race
Two incumbent aldermen will retain their seats, but finished behind overall leader Brian Morgan. Scottie Clark had 470 votes and Terry Glidewell was third with 393. None of the other candidates garnered enough votes to be considered a majority under a little used portion of the state election law.
Dylan Whitt (342 votes), Sonya Hill Witcher (338), incumbent Craig Sanders (314) and former alderman Scott Knight (275) have three more weeks of campaigning in their future.
Since there are no Democratic candidates, the top two vote-getters in the April 27 runoff will win the final two aldermen seat.
