Sonya McKinstry, who has served as the council’s representative for District 7 since 2013, has filed a challenge in Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court in an attempt to overturn the results that saw challenger Cassius Lanier capture the seat by just 25 votes on municipal Election Day.
That margin grew by three on Tuesday, as Lanier was granted three more votes from provisional ballots that were cast March 2 at the District 7 ballot box.
None of the three eligible provisional ballots, as determined by the Tuscaloosa County Board of Registrars, went to McKinstry, leaving the final – and certified – total at 752 votes for Lanier and 724 for McKinstry.
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9:20 p.m. Final election results are posted. The City of Tuscaloosa reports 20% turnout for the mayoral race.
8:30 p.m. Incumbent Mayor Walt Maddox declares outright victory, finishing with 56% of the vote.
7 p.m. Polls close in Tuscaloosa. According to the latest report from the city, there are 59,301 registered voters inside of the Tuscaloosa city limits.
4 p.m. City spokesman Richard Rush tells Patch that the city will be publishing election results as they come in on the city s new election dashboard. Polls close at 7 p.m.
11:30 a.m. Tuscaloosa Patch published an update with results from a recent unscientific web poll asking readers to grade the campaigns of each mayoral candidate. Read the full update here.
In one of the closest elections in recent memory, Tuscaloosa City Councilwoman Sonya McKinstry has lost her bid for a third term to represent District 7.
Unofficial results have McKinstry 25 votes short of challenger Cassius Lanier, a local businessman behind the Lanier Automotive Co., who earned 749 votes to McKinstry s 724.
Meanwhile, District 5 incumbent Kip Tyner earned his seventh term on the council by defeating challenger and University of Alabama student Sam Badger by a vote of 1,221 to 290.
District 2 incumbent Raevan Howard and Norman Crow, a former city Board of Education member who was vying for the City Council s District 3 seat, earned enough votes to win their council seats outright over multiple opponents.