Incumbents handily advance

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Durham: Incumbents pull ahead

Incomplete returns saw incumbents Cora Cole-McFadden and Howard Clement running strong in the Ward 1 and Ward 2 City Council elections Tuesday night, with newcomers Matt Drew and Donald Hughes in a close contests for second place in each contest.

With 56 precincts of 59 reporting, Cole-McFadden had 61.5 percent of the vote, leading challengers Donald A. Hughes, 17.5 percent, and John Tarantino, 13 percent, by a wide margin.

In Ward 2, Howard Clement had 60 percent of the vote, Matt Drew 12.3 percent, with Darius Little, 10.9 percent, and Sylvester Williams, 11 percent, close behind. The fifth candidate, Sandra Howell, was trailing the field with only 5.7 percent.

Oct. vote will trim 2 races

The eight-candidate field for two ward seats on the Durham City Council provides a busy opening act for a larger slate of November showdowns.

The vote Oct. 6 will hone down Durham's Ward 1 and Ward 2 candidates to two for each race, setting up a Nov. 3 face-off.

November races also include challenges to Mayor Bill Bell and to Mike Woodard, the Ward 3 incumbent.

Durham incumbents trounce challengers

Mayor Bill Bell and three incumbent City Council members won landslide re-elections today, each taking more than 71 percent of the vote.

With 57 of the city's 58 precincts counted, Bell led challenger Steven L. Williams 77.5 percent to 22 percent, with a handful of write-in votes. Results are unofficial until the Durham County Board of Elections tallies 1,047 early, absentee and provisional ballots and makes its final canvass next Tuesday.

"It's a vote of confidence, and I appreciate it," Bell said at a victory party Tuesday night.

Triangle voters slow to the polls

Voter turnout appeared light this morning in Wake County, where city council and school board seats are at stake.

Most calls came from citizens in school board districts whose members are not up for re-election this year, and there were no reports of waiting at the polls, Wake Elections Director Cherie Poucher said.

"One of my poll workers said when the polls opened there were three people in line," she said. "That's a lot different from last November when there were 300 people in line."

Bell, council incumbents win

With 84 percent of votes counted, Mayor Bill Bell and three incumbentCity Council members were well on their way to landslide re-elections.

Returns from 49 of thecity's 58 precincts showed Bell leading challenger Steven L. Williams 77 percent to 22percent, with a handful of write-in votes. Council members Cora Cole-McFadden, Howard Clement and Mike Woodard each had more than 70 percent.

The results culminated an election season that most citizens apparently were content to let pass them by. Turnout was light at precincts across the city, though better than the 4.36 percent who turned out for the Oct.6 primary. Several precincts had passed their total primary totals by midafternoon.