Democratic incumbent Henry N. Vaughn, Sr., defeated Republican Roben Dawkins on Tuesday to secure a third term on the Starkville Board of Aldermen.
Unofficial results have Vaughn winning the election with 76 percent of the votes in Ward 7.
The total number of votes cast for Ward 7 was 336. Of the votes, 256 went to Vaughn and 80 went to Dawkins. There were 23 absentee ballots filed for the Ward 7 General Election, with 3 being rejected, 14 going to Vaughn, and 6 going to Dawkins.
"These folks mean so much to me, but it's not about me," Vaughn said. "It's about the people in Ward 7 and the city of Starkville. That's what it's all about."
This will be Vaughn's third term as Ward 7 Alderman since he first took office in 2009. Vaughn said he gives credit for winning the election to God and the people of Ward 7.
"My next step is to try and get on top of this infrastructure," Vaughn said. "There is some work that needs to be done on Cedar Creek Lane and Reed Road needs to be overlaid."
Vaughn said in order to make those improvements, Ward 7 will need to stay focused, manage the money it has and always keep moving forward.
Dawkins - a senior pilot at Mississippi State University - said he congratulated Vaughn on a clean race after the results were given Tuesday night. Dawkins said he had a good experience in running for alderman.
"The only thing that is disappointing to me was the voter turnout," Dawkins said. "I think it is going to end up being about 18 percent that came out to vote."
Dawkins said it is possible that he might run for another position with city government in the future and said this campaign taught him about the political process and how he can improve going forward.
Overall, Dawkins said he enjoyed running for the Ward 7 Alderman position.
"I learned a lot, met a bunch of new friends and wish Henry the best of luck," Dawkins said.