The Aug. 3 primary election results have been certified and now it’s clear who made the cut for Taylor City Council — and how one candidate’s write-in campaign affected the outcome.
A field of 16 candidates were on the ballot for council, along with three write-in candidates.
The results, certified by the Wayne County Board of Canvassers, show the top 14 candidates moving on to the Nov. 2 general election, in their order of finish, are:
Doug Geiss — 3,468
(I) Angie Winton — 3,411
(I) Herman Ramik — 2,940
Jill Brandana — 2,718
Lindsey Rose — 2,556
Amy Atwood — 2,475
Justin Mordarski — 2,307
Asha Tyson — 2,256
Tina Daniels — 2,246
Ira Slaven — 2,215
Nick Dmitruchina — 1,689
Chrissy Masters Carmona — 1,623
(I) Charles Johnson — 1,577
Chris Verdun — 1,536
The top seven finishers in the Nov. 2 election will take a seat on the council.
Johnson ran a successful write-in campaign, beating out three candidates who were on the ballot and two other write-in candidates.
Others in the race who failed to move on are:
Sam Ditzhazy — 1,483
Korey Ryan Morris — 1,465
Martin Drouillard — 1,437
(I) Caroline Patts — 695
(I) Daniel Bzura — 372
Patts and Bzura were incumbents who ran as write-in candidates.
Although the write-in candidates had to wait for the board to certify the votes in order to find out their respective totals, it was worth the wait for Johnson.
He said considering what he was up against, he believes he did a great job making the top 14 and being in contention for a council seat in November.
Johnson said a businessman who lives outside of the city has taken an interest in Taylor politics and has made a concerted effort to work against him.
He was kept off the ballot after failing to acknowledge a $25 fee that had not been paid, but signed an affidavit that he did not have any outstanding campaign fees.
He said it was just an oversight, but wasn’t going to let it stand in the way of returning to the council.
Johnson said he decided to run as a write-in candidate and is proud to say he did it and his name will appear on the November ballot.
“I knew I still had a shot,” Johnson said. “I’ve been here for 60 years — all my life. People know I care about the city, plain and simple.”
He thanked the efforts of his supporters, believing their work paid off now, and is confident it will in the future, as well.
“I’m a blue-collar worker,” Johnson said. “These people know me. I won, and I plan to win in the general election.”
While there were write-in candidates for the Taylor mayor’s race, as well, the outcome in that race was never in question after the unofficial primary votes were counted as the candidates whose names were on the ballot received more votes than the total number of write-in votes.
But now that the vote has been certified, the two write-in candidates — Mayor Rick Sollars and Christine Hope Clancy — know how they fared.
The final numbers in the mayoral race are:
State Rep. Alex Garza (D-Taylor) — 2,793
Council Chairman Tim Woolley — 1,738
Jeff Jones — 1,713
(I) Mayor Rick Sollars — 1,578
Christine Hope Clancy — 7
The top two candidates will face off in November.
Despite the close 25-vote difference between Woolley and Jones, Jones said he does not intend to request a recount.
The incumbents who ran as write-in candidates did so because they were removed from the ballot due to unpaid campaign fines owed to Wayne County.