Jones scores whopping victory

It promised from the get-go to be the most interesting of races.
And it didn’t disappoint.
It was race that handed a lopsided victory to one incumbent and showed two others the door. And it was a race, on the Town Council side, where a plurality amounted to 143 votes.
Voters in Damascus returned Creed Jones Jr. to the mayoral post by a whopping 228 votes. Jones, who had topped Council member Maurice Parris in the previous mayor’s race, held off challenger, Chad Byron, this go around. Byron found support among only 34 voters.
Voters also returned one of the three incumbents to the three open Town Council seats. Lannis Greene was the top vote-getter of the day, with 143 votes. He’ll be joined on Town Council by challengers Kenneth Upchurch and Tom Hayes. Upchurch received 114 votes. Hayes got 107 votes.
The Damascus race was interesting not only for who made it, but also for who didn’t. Voters didn’t return Vice Mayor Marianna Farmer to office. She received just 60 votes. Parris was also ousted from his seat on council with 47 votes, making him the second-lowest vote-getter of the day. The lowest was challenger William DeBusk at 34.
Don Morgan, who had hoped to make a return to the Town Council, received 84 votes, three fewer than Tony Bebber. Tony Doss also failed to find a seat on council with 77 votes.
Damascus residents also decided not to allow liquor by the drink within town limits. Voters shut down the referendum by a 28-vote margin, sinking the hopes of some business owners who hoped to be able to serve mixed drinks to patrons. Though beer and wine are still available in town, no liquor drinks can be served. The referendum failed by a 146 to 118 vote.