Ward 3, Ward 5 Somerset Council races narrowed to two candidates
May 23—The voters have picked the two candidates for the two Somerset City Council races that needed to be whittled down before fall's General Election.
At least that's what the unofficial results from Somerset's Tuesday election say.
For Ward 3, the two candidates facing each other in the fall are Mike Honeycutt and Brannen Wheeldon, while in the Ward 5 race the two candidates advancing are incumbent Jerry Girdler and Margaret Avera Dick.
In Ward 3, Honeycutt received 429 votes out of the 1,223 cast, or 35.08%. Wheeldon received 341 votes, or 27.88% of the total.
They beat out fellow candidate Brent Fleming, who received 272 votes, or 22.24% of the total. The two winners also beat Barbara King Beckman, who despite having pulled out of the race due to not actually living within Ward 3, received 181 votes, or 14.80%
In the Ward 5 race, Girdler received 617 out of the total 1,212 votes cast, or 50.91% of the votes. Dick received 381 votes, or 31.44%.
They beat out candidate Jeanette Hislope, who received 214 votes, or 17.66%.
Ward 3 and Ward 5 will be joined by four other Somerset Council races on the November ballot, which will take place on November 5.
All six City Council races that will appear on that ballot are:
* Ward 3: Mike Honeycutt and Brannen Wheeldon
* Ward 4: Incumbent James "Jimmy" Eastham and Chris McWilliams
* Ward 5: Incumbent Jerry Girdler and Margaret Avera Dick
* Ward 6: Incumbent James "Robin" Daughetee and Phyllis Lawson
* Ward 10: Incumbent David Godsey and Jay McShurley
* Ward 12: Incumbent Ralph "Tom" Eastham and Bonnie Whitis
Incumbents in the other six council seats will run unopposed.
Somerset City elections are non-partisan, meaning candidates do not run as either Republican or Democrat.
The top vote-getter among all 12 council seats will be declared mayor pro tem, or the person who will conduct city council meetings if the mayor is unavailable.
Carla Slavey can be reached at cslavey@somerset-kentucky.com
