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Schmitz wins mayor’s seat

Danny Tindell /

Mike Schmitz celebrates with family and supporters while watching election returns Tuesday evening.

By Lance Griffin
Published: July 14, 2009
Updated: July 15, 2009

If 2007 was the year of the angry electorate, 2009 is the year of the amiable electorate. While it would be a stretch to call any such victory a landslide where less than a third of a city’s registered voters showed up at the polls, the 74 percent gap between victor Mike Schmitz and runner-up Keith Seagle represented a mandate among those who cared to show up Tuesday to elect Dothan’s next mayor.

Dothan City Elections: Coverage of the mayor, city commission and school board races. Get election results, news stories and more. · Election coverage

Schmitz said his overwhelming victory, combined with the re-election of two incumbent commissioners and another the leading vote getter in a crowded field, indicates Dothan residents embraced their message of consensus-building. “The voters got to decide the direction of this city tonight,” Schmitz said Tuesday during a sometimes-raucous celebration at Schmitz’s Toyota dealership. Schmitz breezed into the mayor’s seat Tuesday, capturing more than 86 percent of the vote and easily winning every polling place in the city’s six districts, campaigning on a platform of consensus-building, industry recruitment and attention to supporting education. The 2009 results are contrary to 2007, when an electorate still fuming over a one-cent sales tax increase booted two incumbent commissioners. Schmitz, who will officially take office Oct. 1, said he plans to concentrate on the financial health of the city during his first days in office. He said he also plans to deliver a strong message to the school board that the city will make supporting education a priority. Seagle made tax cuts the center of his campaign, vowing to remove the city sales tax on groceries. While Schmitz emphasized teamwork, Seagle said he placed great value on independent thought, often stressing dissent as an important part of any democracy. “I have congratulated Mike. I ran my campaign purposely different. I have no problem at all that the people saw what Mike was presenting and went with that,” Seagle said. “I appreciate that he and I ran a clean campaign. We both agreed that he would be what he was for and I would be what I was for.” He will continue to represent District 6 on the Dothan City Commission. “The number one principle of public service is to continue to be who you are. And I will continue to be who I am. I can't do otherwise,” Seagle said. “I hope people realize you may agree with me or disagree with me, but I think you have to give me that I stick to my principles.” Tuesday’s margin of victory was historic, far outpacing victory margins in past elections. In fact, Schmitz’s 11,364 votes were more than all votes cast in the 2005 Dothan mayoral election, won by Pat Thomas with 53 percent of the vote. Former Mayor Chester Sowell gained 7,903 votes in 2001, winning his second term.

Mayor

	Keith Seagle	WINNER Mike Schmitz
District 1
Walton Park	115	703
Eastside Fire Station	62	451
District 2
Civic Center	34	377
Wiregrass Recreation	95	336
District 3
Houston County Farm Center	249	1,171
National Guard Armory	151	599
District 4
Lakewood	114	743
Doug Tew	238	1265
District 5
Westgate Recreation	256	2,177
InnPlace Hotel	110	861
District 6
Vaughn-Blumberg Center	45	252
Northside Mall	296	2,041
Absentee	31	388
Totals	1,796	11,364