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After recount, election result stands
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Published: November 6, 2009
A recount of the Mooresville mayoral votes Thursday morning affirmed Chris Montgomery's election, two days after he and At-Large Commissioner candidate Rhett Dusenbury ousted two town incumbents.
Montgomery's narrow victory over Mayor Bill Thunberg increased to 17 votes in Thursday's recount, up from 16 on election night.
Iredell County Board of Elections Director Becky Galliher said the recount was conducted at the request of Thunberg as well as a board decision to reexamine the tight race.
"Recounts are not automatic," she said, noting that they are not required by state law and the board can choose to recount the votes if the margin of victory is less than 1 percent, as it was in Mooresville's mayoral race. The margin between the candidates was 0.7 percent prior to the recount.
In unofficial totals, Montgomery collected 1,064 votes to Thunberg's 1,047. The totals remain unofficial through Tuesday, Nov. 10, when the Board of Elections will announce official results, including five provisional ballots cast in Mooresville. Galliher said those votes, being so few, will have no effect on this year's election results.
Attributing his success in part to what he called his campaign's fresh approach – including his guitar playing and the "Pick Montgomery" guitar picks he distributed to voters – Montgomery said Wednesday he feels empowered and grateful to all who voted for him.
"I'm totally aware that I got votes that were against Thunberg as well as votes that were for me," he said, adding that he "had no idea" the vote would be so close between the two candidates.
Montgomery said he believes Thunberg's vote to approve the purchase of MI-Connection played a large role in the election. He also citedr ising water and sewer rates.
"People just want to be heard and that's the platform I ran on," he said.
And although he's a political newcomer, Montgomery expressed a strong interest in "learning the process" and the duties expected of him as Mooresville's newest mayor. He and Commissioner-Elect Dusenbury, who defeated Frank Rader, will officially begin their terms at the first Town Board meeting of December -- Dec. 7.
One of the biggest items facing his upcoming term, Montgomery said, will be MI-Connection.
"I don't know the specifics of it or the mechanics of it, but I would like to see the town sell MI-C," he said, adding that many of the people he's talked to are "on the same page" and would like to see the town removed from this particular business holding.
Calling the cable system a non-necessity for Mooresville – unlike fire departments, police protection and so on – he added, "I don't believe that public government should run private enterprise."
Looking at the narrow margin separating him from a third term, Thunberg said he also believes his tie-breaking MI-C decision helped sway voters toward his opponent.
"I don't know what impact it had, but it had to have some impact," he said Thursday morning, following the recount which he said he appreciates the Board conducting for him.
"When you're looking at numbers that close, there's no reason for them not to go ahead and look at it anyway."
Despite the possible effect his MI-C vote may have had on this year's election, Thunberg said he has had no regrets during his two terms as Mooresville's mayor.
"I enjoyed serving the citizens of Mooresville every day … My goal was to do what was right by them every day."
And although he can now enjoy dinner with his wife each evening – something rare during his busy terms as mayor -- Thunberg said he did expect to win a third term.
"I put on a pretty good campaign and so I was confident that we had the campaign that was going to win. I certainly had the qualifications for another term."
Thunberg said he knew the vote would likely be close, "but I was expecting the turnout to be a little bit higher," he said. "The turnout was a little disappointing."
At-large commissioner race
Current At-Large Commissioner Frank Rader also noted the low-voter turnout as something that potentially lost him the election race for his second term.
A 450-vote gap separated Rader from the at-large seat winner, Rhett Dusenbury, who attained 1,245 votes to Rader's 795 on Tuesday.
"The folks who won out (this year) got fewer votes than those who were runners up in prior elections," he said, mentioning the 2005 and 2007 municipal elections.
According to the Board of Elections office, only 9.4 percent – or 2,155 out of 22,917 – of Mooresville's registered voters cast their ballot on Tuesday.
With a ballot devoid of state or national races as well as questions or bond referendums, and with no early voting location in Mooresville, Rader said this year's ballot wasn't as "energized" as previous elections. He also noted that four local races were uncontested and newspapers made no endorsements for candidates.
The hundreds of voters fewer this year, he said, could have resulted from those circumstances, which could have had an effect on the outcome.
When asked if MI-Connection could have played a role in his electorate loss, Rader noted its increasing subscriber base and said, "It's pretty much where we said it should be when we closed the deal."
As he leaves his at-large seat, Rader said he'll likely still attend meetings and stay involved, but he plans to use his time for his family and business interests.
Rader noted that he hopes his opponent "takes care of Mooresville's future" as he joins the Town Board.
Dusenbury said Wednesday, "I always wish the best for Mooresville," following his successful run for the at-large commissioner seat.
"I campaigned and ran my campaign on fiscal conservatism," he said. "I believe that the voters responded to it and that's somewhat of the sentiment that they cast their ballot."
With plans to be conservative with the public's money, Dusenbury noted that voters likely approved of his stance against several decisions Rader made during his term.
"All I said was I wouldn't have purchased or promoted the things that he purchased," he said, specifically mentioning the approval of MI-C, capital improvement plans to the town golf course and increasing water/sewer rates.
"I also made the position that I was for limited government, and I guess that's where people came down," he added. "They want their dollars spent wisely."
Calling Rader a "dedicated public servant (who) ran a very honorable race with the utmost integrity," Dusenbury said he didn't anticipate the wide gap in votes Tuesday night.
However, he said Mooresville served as "the perfect example of democracy in action" during Tuesday's election.
"It reinforces my belief in our democratic system that two different candidates presented two different visions and left it to the voters to decide," he said. "So it's not really the candidates that won the election, it was the process. We're just the individuals who try to implement the sentiment of the voters."
By the numbers
Eight Mooresville precincts helped decide this year's election. However, Coddle Creek 1 appeared to be a pivotal precinct in both the mayor and at-large commissioner races.
In the race for town mayor, Thunberg received 330 votes and Montgomery received 375. For at-large commissioner, Rader received 246 votes to Dusenbury's 436.
This year's ballot saw four uncontested races as well: Ward 3 Commissioner, Ward 4 Commissioner and two seats on the Mooresville Graded School District's Board of Education.
Unchallenged incumbent Ralph (Mac) Herring won the Ward 3 town board seat with 524 votes.
Chris Carney faced no opposition for his Ward 4 seat and received 322 votes.
In the MGSD, uncontested school board Chairperson Karen Hart attained 1,391 votes. Nancy Cross, also unchallenged, received 1,252 votes.
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