By Bill Short
Alderman Mike Caruthers and School Board member Mark Coulter won new terms, while Marlon Evans defeated former member Greg Ritter in the Nov. 3 Millington city elections.
Caruthers was re-elected to a fourth term in Alderman Position 7 and Coulter to a second term in School Board Position 3.
With Position 1 School Board member Roger Christopher not seeking a second term, Evans was elected to the open seat.
Caruthers received 2,428 votes, and his challenger Tom Stephens got 981. Fourteen voters cast write-in ballots in that race.
Coulter received 2,021 votes, and his challenger Deanna Speight got 1,501. Eight voters cast write-in ballots.
Evans received 1,937 votes, and Ritter got 1,610, while 10 voters cast write-in ballots.
Caruthers thanked the voters for continuing to place their confidence in him as an alderman. He said he is “sincerely honored” and will continue to defend the “best interests” of all the city’s residents.
Coulter thanked all his Millington friends and family members for re-electing him to “their” school board.
“I’ve said it countless times, and I’ll continue to say it: It’s all about the KIDS!” he noted. “We have made great strides in my first four years, but we have a long way to go.”
Evans said he is “excited” to have the opportunity to serve the school system and the city in this position.
He expressed appreciation to everyone who “supported, gave advice and voted” for him and pledged to represent the children, parents and staff of the schools to the “absolute best” of his ability.
Caruthers was initially elected in 2008 and re-elected in 2012 and 2016. For the past eight years, he has also been a member of the Millington Municipal Planning Commission.
Coulter was initially elected in 2016 when he defeated Rosie Crawford for the open School Board Position 3 seat then occupied by Chuck Hurt Jr., who chose not to seek a second term.
In 2018, Evans unsuccessfully challenged Position 2 School Board member C. J. Haley when she was re-elected to her third term.
Mayor Terry Jones, Position 6 Alderman Don Lowry and Position 5 Alderman Thomas McGhee were all unopposed for re-election last week. Jones and Lowry each won a fourth term and McGhee a third term.
Jones received 3,336 votes, and 90 voters cast write-in ballots.
Lowry got 3,216 votes, and 24 write-in ballots were cast.
McGhee received 3,227 votes, and there were 32 write-in ballots cast.
School Board members Barbara Halliburton and Chris Denson were unopposed for re-election in Positions 5 and 7, respectively.
Halliburton received 3,260 votes, and 20 voters cast write-in ballots.
Denson got 3,170 votes, and 16 write-in ballots were cast.
In February 2018, the Millington Board of Mayor and Aldermen appointed Halliburton to fill the vacancy created in School Board Position 5 by the resignation of Ronnie Mackin.
She was elected in November 2018 to serve during the remainder of Mackin’s unexpired term, which ends on Dec. 1.
In 2016, Denson was the unopposed candidate for the open School Board Position 7 seat then occupied by Donald Holsinger, who ran unsuccessfully for alderman.
Jones was initially elected an alderman in 2000. He served one term before defeating fellow alderman Richard Hodges in a 2004 runoff election for mayor. In 2008, Hodges defeated Jones in a rematch election.
Jones was re-elected in 2012, defeating Kenneth Uselton in a hotly contested runoff race. He won a third term in 2016 when he defeated then-Position 6 Alderman Chris Ford.
Lowry was initially elected as Position 3 alderman in 2000 and re-elected in 2004 and 2008. He was defeated in 2012 by Frankie Dakin and elected in 2016 to the open Position 6 seat then occupied by Ford.
McGhee was initially elected in 2012 when he defeated then-Position 5 Alderman Brett Morgan and was re-elected in 2016 by defeating Holsinger.
