It was a relatively busy election day for many municipalities across southern Illinois.
One of the country's longest serving mayors will continue to serve in Marion. Bob Butler has held that position since 1963, easily defeated his two challengers, Ann Colborn and Charles Montgomery.
the 88-year old Butler finished with 71 percent of the vote to Colborn's 23 percent and Montgomery with 6 percent. The four people elected to the Marion Board of Commissioners were Anthony Rinella, Jim Webb, Angelo Hightower and John Goss.
The City of Carbondale has a new mayor. businessman Mike Henry defeated Carbondale City Councilwoman Jane Adams with 62 percent of the vote. During one of the candidate forums before the election, Henry said his experience as a businessman could be beneficial in light of the city's lean budget. Henry says the city has a lot of good things going for it including it's city water service and the large number of boards and commission that allow residents to get involved in the leadership of the community. Henry will take over from acting Mayor Don Monty. Monty did not run for election. Henry will be working with Tom Grant, Adam Loos and Navreet Kang, who were elected to the Carbondale City Council. Longtime councilman Lance Jack finished fifth in voting.
Voters elected John Major, Erinn Murphy and Michelle Connet to the Carbondale Elementary District 95 School Board. They also said yes to Kathryn Hollister, Zenetta McDaniel Coleman and Lawrence Erickson for the Carbondale Park District Board of Commissioners.
Herb Voss won a tight race to become the alderman representing Ward 5 in Murphysboro.
Voss collected 106 votes, Chris Grissom had 101 and Chuck Novara 89. Russell Brown won the race in Ward 3, defeating Linda Porter Smith and Mary Kay Campbell. The winner in Ward 2 is Gloria Campos. She received 88 votes to edge James Vestal with 83.
Jackson County will not participate in electric aggregation. Voters rejected the proposal with 53 percent of the vote. In 2013, voters in several Jackson County towns approved the item for their particular communities. They included Murphysboro, Desoto, Dowell and Vergennes.
Steve Hartline will serve as the next mayor of Anna. He easily outdistanced Michael Bigler with 71 percent of the vote. This will be Hartline's second stint as mayor. He succeeds Jim Cross, who decided not to run for re-election.
Robert Spencer won the historic mayoral race in Pinckneyville. He becomes the town's first African-American mayor after an extremely close race with longtime city clerk Fran Thomas, who was bidding to become the town's first female mayor. Spencer received 451 votes to Thomas' 446. Before the election, the recently retired Spencer said he was looking forward to the new challenge.
In Du Quoin, after losing a tight race in 2011, Guy Alongi has been elected mayor. He defeated interim Mayor Rex Duncan with 58 percent of the vote. Before the election, Alongi said he wants to take Du Quoin in a new direction. In the Du Quoin city commissioner's race, the top four vote getters to win election were Michael Ward, Dale Spencer, Charles Genesio and Gerald Whitley, Jr.
Jason Schlimme has been elected the mayor of Sparta. He defeated Ronald Stork with 71 percent of the vote. Gary Stephens, Michael Kelly, Gary Hanna and Robert Klausing were elected to the Sparta Board of Commissioners.
Fred Condritz won the race for mayor of Benton. He defeated Gary Kraft with 61 percent of the vote.
In the Benton Board of Commissioners race, the four people elected were Ronnie Baumgarte, David Moore, Dennis Miller and Don Wyant.
In West Frankfort, the Board of Commissioners elected were Ed Blades, Tara Fasol-Chambers, Mike Simpson and Jerry Harkins. The four commissioners elected in Zeigler were Jim Flood, Dorothy Bagwell-O'Brian, Virgil Gunter and Richard McReaken.
Voters have elected Steve Frattini as the mayor of Herrin. He garnered 49 percent of the vote to defeat Micheal Cerutti with 35 percent and Ernie Gwaltney with 16 percent. The Herrin City Council voted for Frattini to replace Vic Ritter in November after Ritter resigned due to health concerns.
The City of Salem has a new mayor. Rex Barbee won the election with nearly 54% of the vote over longtime businessman Joe Hotze and Sarah Boyles. Barbee will take over the post from John Raymer who did not seek re-election. Nicolas Farley and Craig Morton were elected to Salem City Council in a close race over Dave Black and Melanie Purcell Johnson.
In Centralia, incumbent mayor Tom Ashby won re-election over Danny Stover. David Saur and Bill Smith won City Council seats along with Andre Marshall.
According to the Effingham Daily News, Effingham voters chose Jeff Bloemker as their next mayor. He narrowly defeated Larry Micenheimer by 89 votes. "Junior" Herman Willis was third. The publication says Altamont will have a new mayor. Challenger Jason Rippetoe defeated four-term mayor Larry Taylor with 64 percent of the vote. Watson voters agreed to remove the long-standing prohibition against alcohol sales within the village.
In the John A Logan College Board election incumbent Board member Jake Rendleman was the top vote getter with more than 86-hundred votes followed by former John A Logan College President Ray Hancock at 71-hundred and Bill Alstat at just over 53-hundred. They defeated former Logan student trustee Mandy Little and Herrin Junior High administrator Brad Heuring. Alstat is a current Jackson County Board member and will have to resign his county board seat to serve on the John A. Logan Board of Trustees.
Contested city and school board races helped bump up voter turnout throughout southern Illinois.
Jackson County reported overall turnout of 16-percent while voting in the City of Carbondale reached 22-percent. Overall voter turnout in Williamson County was 18-percent. Benton, in Franklin County, saw 26-percent of registered voters cast a ballot in the city races.
