It may seem goofy, but if Red Bank residents who supported various Disney characters voted for Mayor Joe Glasscock, he would have won his bid for re-election.
Out of 2,657 ballots, exactly 10 lifted John Roberts over Glasscock in this year’s at-large commission race. The margin of victory was less than half of a percentage point.
Red Bank at-large commission race* ROBERTS 1,321 49.72%* GLASSCOCK 1,311 49.34%* WRITE-IN VOTES 25 0.94%
But 25 people darkened the “write-in” bubble instead, and Hamilton County Elections Administrator Charlotte Mullis-Morgan said none of those votes were for candidates.
“It was generally Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck,” she said. “That kind of foolishness.”
Glasscock, 78, didn’t push for a recount.
“The real sad part” of the election, he said, was the low turnout. Of Red Bank’s 7,146 registered voters, only 36 percent traveled to the polls, records show.
“Some people don’t understand what to do,” Glasscock said. “They’ll choose their brother or mother-in-law or themselves. I don’t know what makes them do that.”
Mullis-Morgan declined to release the write-in ballots to the Chattanooga Times Free Press, citing state privacy laws, but she said they’re part of every election.
“It’s something I’ve grown to expect,” she said.
For his part, Roberts, 35, said he is grateful Red Bank voters pushed him out of “too close to call” territory. His political career begins tonight when he’s sworn in as a commissioner at Red Bank City Hall.
“Next time you hear somebody say their vote doesn’t count, you tell them to contact me,” Roberts said.