MILTON, Ga. — Milton voters selected two new councilmembers and one incumbent Nov. 7, wrapping up the city’s first self-run election.
The three victors gathered around 7 p.m. at Aberdeen Steakhouse near City Hall to await the results. Tabulation continued after 10 p.m., but the celebration did not stop. Milton Mayor Peyton Jamison and Councilwoman Andrea Verhoff were among those in attendance.
“I’m excited,” incoming District 2, Post 2 Councilman Doug Hene said. “We’ve been through a lot together the last three months, through this campaign, learning how each other works, what matters to us. More importantly, tons of meet and greets, lots of door knocking, hearing what matters to our community.”
Hene won the seat by default after incumbent Councilman Paul Moore announced he would not seek re-election and did not qualify.
Incumbent Councilwoman Carol Cookerly defended the District 1, Post 2 seat against Helen Gordon. Cookerly secured around 63 percent of the vote, or 1,673 of the 2,624 votes cast.
Phil Cranmer ran against incumbent Rick Mohrig for the District 3, Post 2 seat. Cranmer served as HOA president for Bethany Creek and on the Milton Parks and Recreation Advisory Board during his 17 years in the city.
Cranmer won the seat with 59 percent of the vote as of midnight.
The three candidates commended city staff for their hard work and dedication in conducting the city’s first in-house election.
“It’s been an enormous responsibility,” Cookerly said. “It’s been for them and for us, and for everybody, confusing at times, because of having to learn so much and do so much. But they have done it with class. They’ve done it with dignity.”
Cranmer and Hene said a “postmortem” will be completed once the results are finalized to study how well the city performed operating its own election.
“We gave the citizens a…
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