City of Tallulah

Mayor Eddie Beckwith, Jr. was re-elected mayor of Tallulah in a nail-biting nip-and-tuck run-off election May 1. He was running against “Mike” Abendroth, a newcomer to Tallulah and to politics, who soundly defeated Beckwith in the primary election by a 2 to 1 margin. But neither Beckwith nor Abendroth won a majority of the votes in the primary election, forcing a run-off last Saturday in which Beckwith won by 52 to 48 percent of the vote.

Crowds of supporters swarmed both candidates’ headquarters Saturday night to follow the election returns. Many watched the voting results on the Secretary of State’s website that posts the results precinct by precinct as the votes are tallied and reported. Some watched the results on their Ipods, while many of those staying at home watched the tabulations on the internet.

It was a very close nip-and-tuck vote count, with Abendroth leading by 2 percentage points through the count of 9 of the 16 precincts. Then Beckwith took the lead by 2 percentage points as each of the next 6 precincts reported. In the final tally of all 16 precincts, Beckwith won by a 105 votes, a 4 per cent margin.

The publisher of Madison Journal, P.J. Tracy IV, positioned himself at the courthouse to watch the election results. He would go from there to the campaign headquarters of the winning candidate. But he had to wait until all 16 precincts had been reported before he would know which headquarters to run to. Even the results of the final precinct tally could have made the difference in who would end up the victor.

While only 51.9% of the eligible voters cast a ballot, it was still one of the highest percentages of turnout in recent elections, with both candidates making a strong bid to get out the votes.

In making his victory remarks at his headquarters in the former Farmers Market building, Mayor Beckwith first thanked The Lord “for His blessings of guidance, wisdom, vision, and the strength he has blessed me with that has enabled the achievements we made during my first four years as your mayor.”

Then the mayor thanked his “army of volunteers who worked so many hours and so intensely throughout the month-long run-off campaign. Only with their support, their prayers and their votes am I able to serve yet another term to complete many projects that are started.”

“The people of Tallulah have humbled me with their show of support and their vote, said Beckwith. “And only with your prayers and your support will I be able to continue to move Tallulah forward to once again become the commercial hub of the Northeast Delta region that it once enjoyed.”

Beckwith is already actively trying to unify all the five mayoral candidates’ supporters together to work in unity and strength for the good of the city and its citizens. He quotes one of his campaign themes of his back-to-back election successes: “Together we Can, Together we Will.”

MAYORAL ELECTION RESULTS

“Mike” Abendroth 1329 votes 48 percent
Eddie Beckwith, Jr. 1434 votes 52 percent
Total votes cast 2763
Turnout 51.9 per cent