Patterson Wins Second Term by Comfortable Margin

Mayor George ‘Pat’ Patterson in a recent photo taken in his city hall office. / Photo By Jared Senseman

Mayor Pat Patterson handily won re-election to a second term as mayor of Oxford in Tuesday’s general election.

Official returns posted by election officials at 9:30 p.m. gave Patterson the victory over opponent Todd Wade by 902 votes. Patterson received 2,122 votes to 1,220 cast for Wade.

In other city races, newcomer Robyn Tannerhill defeated incumbent Ward 2 Alderman Ernest “E.O.” Oliver by by a two to one margin, with Tannerhill receiving 664 votes to Oliver’s 216.

Incumbent Ward 1 Alderman Ney William lost his bid for another term by only 35 votes. The final vote was 485 for Hughes to 450 for Willliams.

All other candidates for the board of aldermen were running unopposed.

Todd Wade, left, and his mom, middle, at the Oxford Conference Center after unofficial results were posted

Patterson led Wade in the vote count throughout the evening, with absentee ballots adding to his unofficial lead by more than 300 votes. Tannerhill’s lead increased by slightly more than 100 votes in the official vote count, while Oliver received only 27 absentee votes.

Jay Hughes also  maintained his slim lead over Ney Williams throughout the night.

Election officials were planning to review roughly 40 affidavit votes on Wednesday. The 40 votes in question could not alter the outcome of the mayor’s race or the voter decision in Ward 2. The officials said it was inconceivable that the 40 affidavit votes to be reviewed would all pertain to the Ward 1 race, where the two candidates were separated by only 35 votes.

In all, some 2,792 Oxonians turned out to vote at the Oxford Conference Center, with another approximately 550 absentee ballots being cast.

Following his victory, Mayor Patterson issued the following statement to HottyToddy.com:

“I’m grateful for the support from the people of Oxford. I look forward to serving with the board of aldermen for the next four years, and I promise to live up to my slogan, “Common Sense Government, with a continued focus on service.”
–– Michael Harrelson, editor, HottyToddy.com

Email Michael Harrelson at michael.harrelson@hottytoddy.com.