After yesterday’s elections, incumbents Margaret Haynes and Neil Anderson have secured their seats on Wilmington City Council for another term. But the open seat—left by exiting Laura Padgett—is still somewhat in the air.
With over 22% of the total votes, Margaret Haynes was the first clear winner as the results rolled in late yesterday. Neil Anderson is set to return to City Council with just 17%. Currently, the third highest vote getter is Paul Lawler, but Deb Hays trails him by just 88 votes.
Derek Bowens, Elections Director for New Hanover County, says these numbers are unofficial until the County Canvas on November 10th:
"We still have some supplemental absentee [ballots] by mail and some provisionals that the County Board of Elections will need to research to determine whether those will be partial, full, or no counts. And then we’ll be able to assess, obviously, who won for sure at the County Canvas and also whether there’s any recount eligibility."
In order for Deb Hays to request a recount, the difference in votes between her and Lawler would have to be less than 1% of their combined votes.