(Numbers in this reporting only reflected Rowan County vote totals. Kannapolis City Council votes take into account totals from Cabarrus County as well. This story has been updated to reflect those combined totals.)

 

Rowan County residents headed to the polls on Tuesday to cast their ballots for several local elections.

Seats on multiple municipal boards were up for grabs in addition to the executive seats in several cities and towns. 

Results included in this coverage are unofficial Election Day tallies and will be subject to certification. 

 

China Grove

There will be a new mayor in China Grove after town council member Rodney Phillips defeated the incumbent, Mayor Charles Seaford, in a close race decided by fewer than six percentage points. 

Phillips received 199 votes to Seaford’s 177. 

In one of the more competitive races, the China Grove Council had two seats to fill with five candidates in the running. 

Wayne Starnes and Lee Withers received the most votes with 201 and 193, respectively. Jason Higgins and William Jordan were not far behind with 160 votes and 148 votes respectively. Carlos Cirino received 17 votes. 

 

Cleveland

In the Cleveland mayoral race, it was a foregone conclusion as current Mayor Pat Phifer ran unopposed. He received 125 votes. 

The race for seats on the Cleveland Commission saw Travis Summitt and John Bradford retain their positions with 91 and 81 votes, respectively. Challenger Alicia Johns only received 48 votes. 

To fill the town’s unexpired term, Jeanette Rankin received 93 votes (65.49 percent) to David Miller’s 49 votes (34.51 percent).

 

East Spencer

Mayor Barbara Mallett handedly defeated a challenge from Ryan Evans. Her 158 votes represented 87.78 percent of the vote. Evans received 22 votes. 

In the race for the board of aldermen, Curtis B. Cowan and Deloris High successfully defended their seats with 150 and 136 votes, respectively. George B. Jackson was the third highest vote recipient with 114. Incumbent John Noble III was a distant fourth with 66 votes. Steven Joseph received 24 votes.  

 

Faith

In Faith, seven candidates attempted to secure one of five seats on the board of aldermen. 

Randall Barger and Dale Peeler were the largest vote getters with 108 and 107, respectively. 

In a close third was Jayne Lingle, with 86 votes, followed by Gary Gardner’s 59 votes. An unnamed write-in candidate received 49 votes, making them the fifth-highest vote recipient.

Also receiving votes: Brian G. Campbell, 44; Nicholas Putnam, 34; Garret Lynn Yates, 27.

 

Granite Quarry

Granite Quarry Mayor Brittany Barnhardt ran unopposed and received 220 votes. 

In the race for two board of aldermen seats, Doug Shelton received 159 votes, Rich Luhrs received 143 votes and Jim Constantino received 95 votes.

In the unopposed race to fill an unexpired term, Laurie Mack received 192 votes. 

 

Kannapolis

The Kannapolis City Council had three open seats and six total candidates in the race.

Ryan Dayvault and Darrell Jackson received 1,946 (264) and 1,512 (198) votes, respectively. Rowan County vote totals are included in parenthesis.

Tom Kincaid captured the final seat up for grabs with 1,330 (166). Kincaid and Milton Smith received the same number of votes in Rowan County, but he fell short with the Cabarrus County injection, totaling only 1,159 votes.

Jayne Williams received 1,016 (137) total votes and Holden Sides received 853 (106) votes.

 

Landis

Current Landis alderman Katie Sells mounted an unsuccessful challenge for the mayoral seat. Mayor Meredith Smith captured more than 71 percent of the votes with 259. Sells received 94 votes.

Landis Alderman Ashley Stewart and Ryan Nelms were the only two candidates in the race for the two open alderman seats. Stewart received 283 votes and Nelms received 257 votes. 

 

Rockwell

In Rockwell, Chuck Bowman ran unopposed for the seat vacated by outgoing Mayor Beau Taylor. He received 141 votes. 

Rockwell’s board of aldermen race saw five seats up for grabs between five candidates. Christopher Cranford received the most votes with 145. Dillon Brewer received 103 votes; Stephenie Walker, 90; Fred West, 73; and Jay Stake, 67. 

 

Salisbury

Mayor Karen Alexander ran unopposed and garnered 2,203 votes.

The Salisbury City Council had four open seats. Each city council member running for re-election ran successful campaigns. Mayor Pro Tem Tamara Sheffield received the most votes with 1,933. Harry “Mac” McLaughlin received 1,867 votes. Anthony Smith received 1,644 votes and David Post received 1,522.

Shanikka Gadson-Harris ran the next closest race with 951 votes cast. Other vote recipients included Gemale Black, Charles Dean and Ra Hasan with 743, 353 and 177 votes respectively. 

 

Spencer

Spencer Mayor Jonathan Williams successfully defended his seat with 206 votes to challenger Tom Strini’s 36 votes.

The Spencer Board of Aldermen had six seats up for grabs, with six candidates running for the positions. 

Patti L. Secreast received the most votes with 202. Pat Sledge received 190 votes; Steve Miller, 185; Rashid Muhammad, 180; Andrew Howe, 170; Erin Moody, 165.