Every candidate who squeaked by to win government seats in New Hanover County’s 2009 municipal elections on Nov. 3 has officially been declared.
Canvassing has ended after the approval of 55 provisional ballots among the four municipalities, not enough for any defeated candidate to inch ahead of their leading competitors, said Director Bonnie Williams of the New Hanover County Board of Elections.
There were rumblings sparked by a close 88-vote split between Kevin O’Grady and incumbent Margaret Haynes that suggested the Wilmington city council race results may flip-flop, but the official declaration shows O’Grady has officially popped on top to become the city’s new councilman-elect.
At the last city council meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 4, one day after an election that tore the pants off a majority of incumbents across the county, Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo congratulated O’Grady, Charlie Rivenbark and incumbent Dr. Earl Sheridan on their triumphs—all of whom were in the room.
“Thank you for taking an active interest in the electoral process,” he told the newly elected members with a smile on his face.
All of the sitting council members extended their regards to the victors, except Haynes, who didn’t say a word. Incumbent Jim Quinn, also defeated this year, was absent.
Since the results of the elections were aired during the late-night hours of Election Day, there has been a drastic shift in the attitudes of out-going incumbents, reflecting hallmarks of municipal politics that make each election akin to a popularity contest, where the losers drag their feet away from the scene with tails down.
Mayor Stephen Whalen of Wrightsville Beach seems to have accepted his defeat as a major blow to his ego. When Shirley Mazzeo, chief judge of Wrightsville’s one-and-only precinct, read the results, reports indicate that Whalen vanished without congratulating his opponent. Then when asked to comment on the election results the following day, he sharply refused.
Incumbent Alderman Ed Miastkowski, bowed out gracefully after 16 years on the board of alderman, immediately approached the new Mayor-elect and fellow Alderman David Cignotti and congratulated him on his successes.
On Wednesday after Election Day, Cignotti visited Lumina News headquarters where he was interviewed, thanking Whalen for leading this town during the past two years, but expressing excitement over the fact that he would soon be taking the helm.
When Cignotti is sworn in on Dec. 10, it will mark the beginning of a new era that will contrast with the business-as-usual leaders who preceded him.
Walter DeVries, a resident of Wrightsville Beach and 2009 candidate for the board of alderman, said in an e-mail message on the heels of the election that, although he was defeated in his race, DeVries is confident that Cignotti and Alderman-elect Bill Sisson will “transform the politics and government of this town.”
“That’s what this election was all about,” he said.
DeVries said that he, Cignotti and Sisson had been meeting weekly for two months before Election Day, and it was during those meetings that he developed a fondness for the two candidates and began rooting for their victory.
“One indication of this to me,” he said, referring to his confidence in the two candidates, “was that in those meetings, we hardly ever talked strategy and tactics but mostly issues.”
DeVries was a good friend to have during this election cycle.
Recognizing the importance of a strong turnout on a voter-shy off-year municipal election, DeVries implemented a sweeping get-out-the-vote effort that targeted each segment of the population, likely helping to build turnout to a strong 35 percent, well above the turnout in Wilmington and Carolina Beach.
An over-arching theme of 2009 was that people were fed up with their elected leaders, as was shown in the enormous number of defeats handed out to incumbents across America, including New Hanover, Pender and Brunswick counties.
Tonight, it should be interesting to note what sort of comments—if any—Whalen gives before bowing out of elected office for at least the next two years.
For people living in the vortex of elections, a larger and more grueling contest will roll forward with filing for county offices, beginning on Feb. 8. County commissioner Bobby Greer has put his seat up for grabs, but Bill Caster has signaled that he will be seeking a reelection bid. We’ll see how it all shakes out.
