What’s next in mayoral race?
Nearly 24 hours after the polls closed on Election Day, neither Germantown mayoral candidate had declared victory or conceded.
Incumbent Mayor Mike Palazzolo has a 127-vote lead over challenger John Barzizza, a Germantown alderman.
Palazzolo tallied 10,240 votes and Barzizza 10,113, according to unofficial totals from the Shelby County Election Commission.
Shelby County Election Commissioner Anthony Tate said Wednesday morning that there is a high number of provisional ballots to be counted from throughout Shelby County. Officials could not say how many provisional ballots are from Germantown.
The provisional ballots may not be fully tallied until close to Thanksgiving, according to Linda Phillips, Shelby County Election Commission administrator. The votes have to be looked at by the commission to check for errors before being counted.
On Wednesday, representatives from Barzizza’s campaign spent much of the morning at the election commission office on Nixon Road. At one point, they were reviewing election count tapes from early voting locations.
“With as close as the results are of tonight’s election, my team and I believe that it is in the best interest of my campaign and voters of Germantown that I
not make any decision at this point,” Barzizza said in a statement Tuesday night.
On the other side of the ballot, Palazzolo went back to work Wednesday.
“It’s been business as usual for me,” he said. “I had some office hours, did a couple TV interviews and am picking up signs.”
Palazzolo said he has confidence in the Shelby County Election Commission.
“The election commission has a process they go through, and I trust their integrity,” he said.
Germantown aldermen races
Scott Sanders bested Brian White for Alderman Position 1seat.The position was open after Barzizza declared his run for mayor. Unofficial totals showed Sanders with 10,964 votes, while White received 8,296.
“I am eager to get to work to be the voice of the citizens,” Sanders said Wednesday.
He said he enjoyed meeting citizens throughout the campaign and hope they “hold (him) accountable.”
“I’m ready to work together — try to work together with the board that is there, move in the right direction. I hope to be the voice of the people,” said Sanders. Sanders will be sworn in Dec. 17. Alderwoman Mary Anne Gibson will keep her Alderman Position 2seat on the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, after defeating Jeff Brown. Unofficial totals showed she won over Brown with 9,794 votes to 9,130.
“I am humbled, grateful, and I am so looking forward to getting back to the important work that we do every day,” Gibson said. “The work of a campaign is different than the work that goes into (various commissions in the city). I am looking forward to getting back to the things I love, that I think that are important that make Germantown unique.”
With the campaign over, she hopes the city can keep moving forward.
“Unity is not a throw-away word,” she said, “Whatever those numbers are, I think it’s important for us just to be able to talk about the things we disagree on respectfully. I will make certain we do that in my second term for the next four years.”
Germantown school board races
Current school board chairwoman Betsy Landers defeated Brain Curry to keep her Position 2 seat on the school board. Landers won with 9,627 votes to Curry’s 8,682.
She spent Tuesday night at Palazzolo’s campaign party with some family members.
“I’m very humbled and excited,” Landers said. “I’m very humbled that the community supported our candidacy feeling very excited for the future of GMSD. We have an amazing school system but there’s so much we can do for our students.”
Angela Griffith won over Robyn Rey Rudisill by 2,177 votes for the Position 4 seat that was open due to Lisa Parker’s retirement. Griffith won the position with 10,107 votes, while Rudisill had 7,930.
Griffith, a regional sales manager for a St. Clair Foods, a local food manufacturing company, wanted to bring her business background to the board.
Griffith will be sworn in at the next Board of Education meeting Dec. 18.