Stiehler, Dotson and Hehn emerge to claim contested seats on town board
The final vote totals are in, and the Highlands Board of Commissioners officially has one new member.
On Friday, the Macon County Board of Elections conducted the vote canvass for the 2019 municipal elections held on Nov. 5. Following the Election Day vote returns, the race for town board showed incumbents Brian Stiehler and John ‘Buz’ Dotson and challenger Marc Hehn in the top three spots with three seats contested.
The margin between Dotson, Hehn and incumbent Eric Pierson was just four votes.
Following the canvass, which includes the counting of provisional and absentee votes, Stiehler, Dotson and Hehn were officially declared victors. Stiehler finished with 185 votes, while Hehn (136) and Dotson (135) followed. Pierson came in fourth, narrowly missing out on retaining his seat, with 132 votes.
“I am immensely grateful to my wife, friends and supporters who generously contributed their time and effort during the election,” Hehn said following the vote canvass. “I look forward to working with mayor Pat Taylor, Amy Patterson, Donnie Calloway, Buz Dotson, Brian Stiehler and our town staff. Let’s believe in ourselves and imagine a hospital and medical practices on the plateau that are once again fully staffed.”
When the polls closed on Election Day, Stiehler had 182 votes, while Dotson and Hehn each had 134. Pierson had 130
Hank Ross had 127. Because there were three provisional ballots yet to be counted, and potential for absentee ballots (absentee ballots are accepted as long as they are postmarked on or before Election Day) the race was determined to be too close to call.
During the vote canvass, which always takes place 10 days following an election, all of the Highlands ballots were recounted and the provisional ballots voted on by the Macon County board of elections.
“We had three provisionals, all of which were during early voting, and the board determined that all three of those votes were legitimate,” Macon County Board of Elections Director Melanie Thibault said. “All of the ballots were sent back through the voting machine and the numbers came out exactly the same as Election Day and then the provisional were added in.”
Stiehler, Dotson and Hehn will be sworn in to office in December and each will serve a four-year term.