Incumbents win in Kannapolis (The Independent Tribune)
KANNAPOLIS – The incumbents in Kannapolis were re-elected Tuesday night.
Mayor Bob Misenheimer defeated challenger, Bill Georgiou, with 71 percent of the vote.
Randy Cauthen, Darrell Hinnant and Gene McCombs were re-elected to City Council, with 30 percent, 29 percent and 26 percent, respectively.
This is Misenheimer’s second term as mayor.
“The people of Kannapolis have been awfully good to Bob Misenheimer,” he said. “In the near future I hope we can get this research campus back on track so it can be doing some great things.”
For Georgiou, this was his first time running for municipal office.
He said he took the loss in stride and that he learned a lot from his first municipal campaign.
“I spent a lot of time talking with citizens and about the issues that I wanted to bring up,” Georgiou said. “We are quite a diverse community and I’ve really learned to appreciate it a lot more. I love my community so much more after this.”
Georgiou said he called Misenheimer to congratulate him on the win, and said he would run in the future.
Georgiou is active, though, in Democratic politics in the county and district level. He attended the
2008 Democratic National Convention as a delegate from the 8th District.
For Cauthen, Hinnant and McCombs, the refrain was very similar: They were pleased and humbled to be re-elected to City Council.
Only Hinnant expressed concern about the low voter turnout. About 7,200 people voted in this year’s election, out of 24,405 registered voters in Kannapolis, with 19,999 in Cabarrus County and 4,406 in Rowan County.
“There was one precinct where only 57 people voted,” Hinnant said. “That makes me sad. I don’t know what we have to do to get people to vote.”
Contact Web reporter Ben McNeely: 704-789-9131
By Ben McNeely | Media General
Published: November 3, 2009
