LAURINBURG — A positive changing of the guard will take place soon when James “Jim” Willis is sworn in as the new mayor of Laurinburg.
Willis pretty much led from wire to wire in the municipal election, garnering a majority of the One-Stop Early Voting as well as those ballots cast Tuesday. His 1,135 votes easily beat back the challenges of J.D. Willis, who had 880 votes; Paul Tate with 749 votes; and Frank Evans with 223 votes.
There were also seven write-in ballots cast.
“I’m very appreciative for all the support I got and I just look forward to starting a new administration with a much more positive tenure than we’ve had in the past,” Willis said. “We’ve got a lot to be thankful here (and) I look forward to being an advocate for our city.
“I think we have some great things that will come,” he added.
Willis will take the reigns as mayor from Matthew Block, who was defeated by more than 400 votes by incumbent Mary Jo Adams in the race for the District 2 seat on the City Council.
“It’s been quite a journey, but totally worth it in the end” Willis said.
He said his victory was centered around a few things.
“I have a long history here, served on the school board and simply want to see the best for Laurinburg,” Willis said. “That all starts with all of us working together.”
Attempts to reach J.D. Willis were unsuccessful.
Tate was making his jump into campaigning for elected office, and he said there was a lot he had to learn along the way.
“Well, we tried,” he said. “I tried to put out a positive message. I wasn’t real well-known in the community. I just hope those elected will do what they said they would do. Really hope we get away from the negative environment.
“I still see a social network going on and I’m not sure people really thought about who they were voting for,” he added. “But there’s a lot about the process I had to learn; I found that I was pretty naive with some of those things.
As for the future, Tate said he wasn’t sure if he’d throw his hat into the ring again.
“I’m not sure if I’ll try again,” he said. “(But) I will continue to work behind the scenes for progress here, which is what I enjoy doing most.”
W. Curt Vincent can be reached at 910-506-3023 or cvincent@laurinburgexch.wpenginepowered.com.
