All incumbents, Barnett win; SPLOST passes easily

Washington voters turned out in strong numbers to re-elect Willie Burns as mayor of Washington, to re-elect Councilmen Nathaniel Cullars in District 1 and Edward B. Pope Jr. in District 2, and to bring Ames Barnett to the council table for District 2.

County-wide, nearly 30 percent

News- of Wilkes voters came out to vote overwhelmingly in favor of continuing the SPLOST tax to pay for Wilkes County schools.

In the Washington mayor's race, incumbent Willie Burns garnered 750 votes to give him the victory over challenger Carlton Norris, who

got 645 votes.

In District 1, incumbent Councilman News- Nathaniel Cullars used a very active get-out-the-vote campaign to defeat Marion Tutt Jr. by a 59 percent to 41 percent margin. Cullars' campaign activities in the courthouse got him at least one rebuke from Supervisor of Elections Judge Jim Burton last week as Cullars

escorted voters he had brought

in to vote. It is not known at press News- time whether Tutt will challenge the election results based on Cullars' actions.

In District 2, incumbent Councilman Ed Pope Jr. retained by a wide margin the seat he has held for a year, taking almost 42 percent of the votes. Ames Barnett took the second seat at risk with a strong 38 percent. Fulani Doughty and Ed Franklin both garnered respectable showings with 144 and 134 votes respectively.

The city-wide voter turnout was 43 percent, with 40.67 percent of District 1 voters casting ballots and 44.76 percent of District 2 voters voting. A chart showing voting by precinct is printed on page 11.

In Tignall, Mayor Richard Gammon fought off a strong challenge from Henry Brown to win by only a handful of votes. Incumbent Tignall council members Charles Bradley, Tom Jackson, Nobie Keener, Albert Huyck, and Leon Aycock were unopposed.

In Rayle, Mayor Norman Echols defeated challenger Elizabeth Bolton. Jason Echols was the only candidate for Rayle city council.

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