For a town that hasn’t had a mayoral race since 1987, it was surprising that Tuesday’s municipal elections in Luverne started and finished without incident.

Like most of the small towns scattered throughout Crenshaw County, it took a while to tally up all the votes after the polls closed at 7 p.m., but everyone seemed to be pleased with voter turnout.

&uot;We were very well pleased with the voter turnout,&uot; Luverne Mayor Joe Rex Sport, who was re-elected after beating out Dr. William Beall, said. &uot;People went and exercised their privilege to vote and that was good. People had an interest in the elections.&uot;

Sport, who was appointed mayor when John Harrison was named ADECA Director after Gov. Bob Riley took office, defeated Beall 545 to 201 to reclaim his seat in office.

Sport said he was confident heading into Tuesday.

&uot;If you’re in a race, you want to win and I feel good about it,&uot; he said. &uot;I felt like when I went into it that my chances of winning were good. When it was over with I was pleased with the results.&uot;

All the incumbents on Luverne’s council also reclaimed their places on the council.

In District 1, Charlie Johnson defeated Fannie Larue Youngblood 91 to 47, Merrill Sport received the most votes in District 3 to reclaim his spot on the council beating Brad Butler 124 to 42 and in District 4 Jimmy Lester defeated Kyle Richburg 99 to 66.

Mayor Sport said having the same council in place for the next four years will be beneficial with all the ongoing projects and upcoming projects slated.

&uot;We have a downtown renovation that I’m going to try to kickoff here before too long, we have that project funded,&uot; Sport said. &uot;That’s going to be the thing we’ll be working on immediately. We’re trying to wind down the S.M.A.R.T. plant and our involvement in it. We hope to have it up and running by the end of the year.&uot;

Although Mayor Sport was glad to see his fellow councilmen win their races, he said their competitors would have done a good job as well.

&uot;We had good people running for council,&uot; Sport said. &uot;I was pleased that all the incumbents are coming back.&uot;

Rutledge

Rutledge is the only town in Crenshaw County that will hold a run-off in three weeks.

Steve Burgans and Eddie Stroud will face each other in the run-off after both received 11 votes in the five-seat battle.

The council members that received the highest votes to claim the first four seats include Wanda Williams who received the most votes with 30, Beth Rogers with 23, William W. Williams with 18 and Raymond Arsenault with 16. Judy Franklin was knocked out of the race with only nine votes.

Rutledge Mayor Joe Dexter Flynn was unopposed.

Brantley

Incumbent councilman A.J. Bennett received the lowest amount of votes in Brantley’s District 1 contest with 27 to lose his seat to newcomer Lorey Bogan, who received the most votes with 46. Incumbent Daryl Elliot recorded 44 votes to reclaim his place on the council.

In District 2, Judy Woolley received the most votes with 154, which was two more than incumbent councilman Steve Walker. Brian Morgan also claimed a spot on the council after receiving 140 votes compared to Timothy Daniels, who received 49.

Brantley Mayor Bernie Sullivan was unopposed.

Glenwood

Incumbent Mayor Dan Jackson defeated Malcolm Daniel 2-to-1 Tuesday night to take over for another four years. Jackson received 84 votes and Daniel recorded 32.

In the council race, Jon Folmer (35) and Scott Strickland (19) all claimed seats. Boyd Barry and Becky Hughes were unopposed. Roscoe Sexton received 16 votes.

Petrey

James Curtis Petrey stunned incumbent Mayor Ronald Petrey by taking over the town after receiving 34 votes in comparison to the mayor’s 16.

Laura Elliott (39), incumbent Bobby Beasley (38), Maynard Rolling (37), Don Hermeling (35) and Elwood Farris (34) claimed the five seats available on Petrey’s council. John Franklin Wilkerson, Scott Kelly, Kyle Norman and Jeff Wilkerson each suffered defeats.