MOUNT VERNON — Mount Vernon City Council will see four new faces when it convenes for a new session in January.
John Francis, Republic, will represent the 2nd Ward of the city after beating out Holli Kendall by a count of 382 to 279.
“The greatest servant in this nation was a Republican ... his name was George Washington ... and Ward 2 will be taken care of by a Republican,” said Francis. “We had a great turnout. We’ve already gone door to door. And we’re just going to keep going door to door. We’re going to meet people and get to know them.”
Francis will take over the seat that will be vacated by retiring Chuck Dice.
Sam Barone, Democrat, was cautiously excited about his apparent victory in the 1st Ward, but cautioned the party faithful who gathered at the Parkside Restaurant, the results were too close to take a win for granted.
Provisional ballots in the election are still to be counted.
Barone, is his first campaign, took an early 24-vote lead as absentee ballots were counted first, then held on to his lead as the first two precincts in the ward were counted. However, he had to wait for almost the end of the evening to find out the final result.
