CLEVELAND, Tenn. - Voters have elected Kevin Brooks to succeed Tom Rowland as Cleveland's next mayor and placed one new member on the Cleveland City Council.
Brooks, a Republican who did not seek re-election to the Tennessee House District 24 seat, defeated retired educator Duane Schriver, earning 4,244 votes to Schriver's 2,416.
"I'm so grateful for the citizens of Cleveland and my family," Brooks said. "Most of all, I'm grateful we ran a clean campaign with dignity and integrity."
Rowland, first elected as Cleveland's mayor in 1991, said he would not seek re-election in a joint news conference with Brooks in January. He is Tennessee's longest serving mayor.
"Well, we came up a little short," Schriver said. "We had a big machine to run against, but we worked hard and did it the right way, and I am better acquainted with our citizens because of it."
Cleveland's charter describes the mayor as "the ceremonial head of the city" empowered with "a voice but no vote." The mayor may veto some city council actions.
In city council races, Ken Webb clinched the Cleveland City Council At-Large 2 seat and Charlie McKenzie defeated challenger Hiawatha Brown to win a third term for the District 1 seat.
McKenzie received 408 votes to Brown's 348.
"I want to thank all the people who voted for me," McKenzie said. "I ran on a platform of no new taxes and that I will listen to the citizens."
Brown, who said she wished McKenzie well, would have joined the seven-member council as its only woman if she had won.
"I'll be monitoring the situation to make sure our district is represented," Brown said.
Webb took 2,918 votes in a four-way race with Larry D'Agata, David Durkin and Scott McGowan, who brought in 332, 611 and 2,337 votes, respectively. He fills the vacancy left by Richard Banks, who did not seek re-election.
"I just want to thank the voters, my family, my team and the other candidates, who made this a competitive race - we all remain friends," Webb said. "I'm just excited about getting ready to go to work."
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