Close race in battle for District 4 City Council ballot
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on October 7, 2015 1:46 PM
Bevan Foster
Charles Williams
Tondalayo Clark
Tuesday night's District 4 primary election saw Bevan Foster dominate the field and almost ended incumbent Charles Williams' 20-year reign on the Goldsboro City Council.
Foster finished well ahead of Williams and Tondalayo Clark, getting 154 votes.
In a neck-and-neck race right up until the last precinct numbers were reported after 9 p.m. Tuesday night, Williams nudged out Ms. Clark by getting 94 votes compared to Ms. Clark's 92.
These results are still subject to any outstanding absentee ballots and provisional ballots. All absentee ballots postmarked before 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 6, will be counted, and the legitimacy of the provisional ballots submitted for the district race will be determined by the Wayne County Board of Elections.
Those numbers will be announced on Oct. 13.
As the vote counts currently stand, Foster and Williams will face off during the Nov. 3 election for the District 4 seat on the city council.
"I was barely back," Williams said. "It was such a light turnout and people just didn't get out and vote like they should. But with that meager turnout, the results just got me barely back in there for the November election."
For now, Williams said he plans to continue campaigning to retain his seat on the City Council.
"Of course, I am just going to work through for re-election and hopefully everything will turn out OK," Williams said. "We (the City Council) have a lot going on, and I would like to be around to see it come to fruition."
Williams said he would be able to relinquish his seat on the council with a sound mind if the final numbers reported on Oct. 13 push Ms. Clark into the final election instead of Williams.
"If it does, I will just say that I served and served with integrity, and that I have no regrets," Williams said. "If I lose out, I can go out with the feeling that I have given my best. I appreciate and I thank the people for having given me the opportunity to serve. That is the way I look at it."
Williams said the low turnout during the primary election did not surprise him, due to how bad the weather was during one-stop early voting that began on Sept. 24.
"With a little turnout like that, he (Foster) worked hard trying to get people to the polls," Williams said. "I maybe should have worked harder."
Foster, when reached by phone this morning, said he was thankful that so many voters turned out to cast ballots in his favor.
"I mean, I don't think I did anything really special," Foster said. "I just worked to get in touch with the community and will keep working hard."
Foster also said he has special plans for the stipend provided to city council members if he is elected to represent District 4.
"I've been in touch with three different programs and organizations in the community, two of which I knew existed and one of which I just found out about," Foster said, but did not specify the names of the organizations or programs. "If I'm elected to represent District 4, I will automatically give 50 percent (of my stipend) to these organizations because that is a way for me to immediately give back to my community."
A total of 340 ballots were cast for the District 4 primary.