Dateline: May 17, 2007

White defeats Paul in Mayoral election

Clarendon Mayor Mark White was elected by a wide margin to his own full term to lead the city Saturday, and two new faces will join the Board of Aldermen.

White defeated challenger Lauraine Paul by a margin of 169 to 35 in an election that was marked by a very low turnout.

Terry Noble and Ann Huey topped the field of four candidates running for aldermen. Noble received 124 votes, and Huey garnered 87. They were followed by Claude Debord with 83 and Bobby Woodard with 68.

Noble and Huey will replace Aldermen Michael Tibbets and Bobbie Kidd, neither of whom ran for reelection.

A total of 204 votes were cast in the mayor’s race, reflecting a turnout of 15.9 percent.

Also on Saturday, residents of the Hedley Independent School District cast ballots in a hotly contested race among nine candidates for four positions on the Board of Trustees.

James Edward Potts received the most support with 93 votes, and Abby O’Neal, the sole incumbent to be reelected, received 72 votes. Troy Monroe and Jim Lollar will also join the board with 71 and 66 votes respectively.

Other candidates in Saturday’s Hedley school election were incumbent Jason Sargent 62, incumbent Rex Morris 52, Mary Jon Hicks 51, incumbent Marlee Sharp 48, and Kelly Patton 31.

Less than 15 percent of Donley County voters cast ballots in Saturday’s state constitutional amendment election. Those voters approved 272 to 97 of Proposition One, which dealt with extending last year’s school tax savings to elderly and disabled citizens whose taxes were previously frozen.