BY DANIEL SCHMIDT
THE OBSERVER
Publisher’s Note: These results are unofficial as of press time. Votes will be canvassed and certified next week.
AUBURN — In the city’s first contested mayoral election since 2018, Auburn residents were given the choice between the status quo and an outsider candidate who has never held office before.
The voters made their choice clear, with incumbent Auburn Mayor Ron Anders retaining his seat after defeating challenger Robert Wilkins in a landslide victory.
Anders received 4,174 votes (77.5%) to Wilkins’ 1,209 votes (22.5%), and won seven of the city’s eight voting precincts and the absentee vote.
Anders defeated David Hill 54.2% to 45.8% in 2018 to succeed longtime mayor Bill Hamm Jr.
In an election centered around public infrastructure, cost of living and quality of life, Anders said the voters’ decision was proof that the city was generally on the right track.
“I’m very humbled that over 77% of Auburn voters today said they wanted me to continue to be the mayor of this wonderful, awesome community,” Anders said. “Auburn’s a great town because great people live here. I’ve never said we’re perfect, [and] I’ve never said we don’t have things to work on. We will get to work on those things, but today, by reelecting three incumbents, I believe that the citizens have said they believe in the people who have led this community for the last eight years, and I look forward to that continuing.”
Wilkins conceded that Anders’ connections and long career in local politics presented him with a steep hill to climb, and said he wished voter turnout had been higher.
“There are a lot of concerns out there that have not been brought up before, and I brought them up,” Wilkins said. “I believe that the people out there, I’m not sure why they didn’t feel comfortable enough in voting. If they had voted, it would have been a little lot closer. It could have been even more.”
Wilkins thanked his supporters for believing in his campaign and said that giving voters alternatives was important.
“I had an awful lot of people that just gave me excitement and said, ‘I’m so glad you’re running. I didn’t believe anybody would run against Ron. Your ideas are great. We love you,’ and things like that,” Wilkins said. “It was kind of an ego builder, so that was nice.”
It was a campaign that featured competing slogans. Anders’ signs featured “Let’s Do This Together,” while Wilkins’ outsider message went with “Citizens First.”
For Anders, the campaign was about convincing Auburn’s estimated 86,786 citizens that the city was on the right path after spending eight years with him at the helm.
His campaign focused on building a new Auburn Police Department precinct in South Auburn, expanding access to healthcare and maintaining a quality city school system, among other priorities.
Anders also enjoyed the public support of numerous elected officials and local leaders, including Auburn University President Chris Roberts, State Sen. Randy Price, State Rep. Joe Lovvorn and Probate Judge Jere Colley.
Wilkins, a business owner and salesperson, ran a campaign that cast doubts on the ability of the city’s current leaders to meet residents’ needs.
Long a fixture at Auburn City Council meetings, Wilkins made what he has characterized as a lack of responsiveness to residents’ needs the centerpiece of his campaign.
Particularly, Wilkins focused on traffic and road infrastructure and increasing transparency in local government.
After the results had come in, Anders addressed residents’ concerns about traffic across the city.
“We heard traffic and traffic flow being the No. 1 concern, and we’re going to address that,” Anders said. “We’ve got a number of traffic projects that you’ll see start after the first of the year, and I want to ask everybody’s patience right now because traffic improvements are wonderful, but boy are they cumbersome to live through. There are cones and there are people stopping you and waving you through, and I’m just going to ask for people’s patience. But we’re going to aggressively get after those projects after the first of the year.”
Anders said other immediate priorities include working with Auburn University to give the area most specialized doctors and other medical professionals, and building an Auburn Police Department precinct south of Interstate 85.
He said expected those two initiatives would make Auburn a safer and healthier place for people to live.
“I believe that our citizens believe, by and large, that what we’re doing on their behalf, using the resources that they provide us, that we are making good decisions on their behalf and making Auburn a great place for them to live and raise children,” Anders said.
Anders was not the only incumbent seeking reelection to win.
City Council results
In Ward 5, Sonny Moreman held off two challengers to retain his seat on the city council. Moreman received 431 votes (63.8%), Toshiro Jackson finished second with 147 votes (21.7%) and Mike Menese finished third with 98 votes (14.5%).
“It feels so wonderful and it’s such a relief, of course, but it’s also such an encouragement to me,” Moreman said. “It makes me feel accepted by the people who I’m here to serve, and it’s just humbling.”
In Ward 8, Tommy Dawson also won by a relatively comfortable margin against Augustus Ayers. Dawson received 403 votes (61%), while Ayers received 258 votes (39%).
“I feel ecstatic. I thank God Almighty for blessing me. I prayed about it a lot this morning going over to the polling place,” Dawson said. “The folks in Ward 8 having enough faith in me to serve them for four more years just means a lot to me. I think the citizens made it clear tonight what direction they want the city to go in, and it’s such a pleasure and I’m humbled by the results.”
Outside of current Ward 2 Council Member Kelley Griswold is being replaced by Kirsten Milenkovitch, who ran unopposed, the Auburn City Council will look almost identical.
Ward 1 Council Member Connie Fitch-Taylor, Ward 3 Council Member Beth Witten, Ward 4 Council Member Tyler Adams, Ward 6 Council Member Bob Parsons and Ward 7 Council Member Max Coblentz all ran unopposed in the election.
