Grayson wins re-election; two council incumbents unseated
Published 10:10 pm Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Demopolis Mayor Mike Grayson won reelection Tuesday to a second term, with 1170 votes compared to challenger Don Singleton’s 866.
“First of all, I just want to say I am very grateful and overwhelmed. This is certainly a great victory,” he said. “I am thankful for the support and confidence these people have given me through this campaign.”
Singleton thanked his supporters and said he will continue to have an active role in civic matters.
“Life is going to go on. We worked hard. We campaigned hard. We fought a good, clean campaign,” Singleton said. “We’ll be back.”
While the décor in the mayor’s office remains unchanged, there will be noticeably new look to the Demopolis City Council. In all, three new faces will join the council table.
Two incumbents lost their bids for another term — D. Harris Nelson beat Melvin Yelverton, 181 to 84, in District 3 while Cleveland Cole Jr. unseated Jack Cooley, 301 to 229, in District 5.
“I appreciate all of the support,” Nelson said. “It does feel good … the hard work starts now (though).”
In District 5, Cole comes in as the new council member and said that he is very happy to have won the race and thanks all his supporters for believing in him.
“I feel very confident joining in to work with this council to get things accomplished and make this a better community,” he said.
Charles Jones Jr. won the open seat in District 1 with 249 votes, besting Robert Shepherd (101 votes) and Grace Clayton Motley (23 votes).
“I have some goals set, and I want to share them with the council so that we can come together to develop some common goals for this city,” he said.
He also shared sentiments about things not being the same for him after losing his son four and a half months ago. “I lost my son and life still just isn’t as sweet as it was anymore,” he said.
Yet, moving forward he said that he is prepared to work with the council to “bring harmony to the city.”
“It’s true that you won’t get everything you want, but it’s a give and take and I am prepared to move forward to work on goals for the city,” he said.
Congress thanked his supporters and said he thought people “voted issues” rather than picking someone they personally liked.
“I look forward to four more years,” Congress said. “I hope we can end the gridlock and get some things done.”