Pitts tops Cooley in Beat 4 School Board runoff

By Paul Keane

The Wayne County News

Russell "Rusty" Pitts topped Cindy Cooley in the runoff election for 
the Beat 4 School Board seat Tuesday night.

Pitts earned 255 votes while Cooley took home 177 from the five 
precincts voting in the runoff that came about when none of the three 
candidates running for the position in the Nov. 5 General Election could 
garner 50 percent plus one of the vote totals.

With absentee ballots added in, Pitts won three of the five boxes, 
taking Beat 4 by a 122-75 margin; winning the Eucutta box, 26-16; and 
winning the Mozingo box by a 73-15 margin. Cooley won the City 4 box, 
22-13; and the Pleasant Grove box by a 58-36 margin. Again, those totals 
included absentee balloting.

No affidavit ballots were filed on Election Day and only 63 total 
absentee ballots were cast leading up to Tuesday's in-person voting.

In the race for Appeals Court District 5 Position 2, Amy St. Pe' 
earned 712 votes from Wayne County while Jennifer Schloegel earned 273. 
That race encompassed much of the southern portion of the state and full 
totals across the district were not available at the time of this 
posting.

A total of 1,033 votes --- including affidavit ballots --- were cast in 
the runoff, which amounts to less than 10 percent of the registered 
voters in the county.

The Winchester box was the first to arrive at the courthouse, and final 
vote totals were announced around 7:50 p.m., making it one of the 
quickest vote counts in recently history.