Republicans take first ever Board of Aldermen majority in city election

Democrat Tim Kent was elected to a fourth term as Mayor of New Albany in Tuesday’s general city election.

Three Republicans were elected to the city’s five-member Board of Aldermen, giving the GOP the first ever majority on the city’s governing body.

(L to R) Incumbent Ward 4 Alderman Will Tucker will hold his seat. Current Ward One Democrat Alderman Jeff Olson will not be in the next picture we take of the New Albany city board. He gave up his seat to run for mayor as a Republican against incumbent Democrat Mayor Tim Kent. Mayor Kent (3rd from left) will continue in the picture, having won a fourth term. Scott Dunnam (3rd from right) gave up the Alderman at Large seat to run for the Ward 1 seat and was defeated by Republican Amy Livingston. She’ll be sitting in Olson’s seat in the next picture. Republican newcomer Keith Conlee overwhelmed Democrat Larry Dykes and will be sitting where Dunnam has been. Incumbent Democrat Aldermen Johnny Anderson and Kevin Dale White (1st and 2nd from right) will continue to serve.

The totals that follow are the unofficial results of the general election vote, including absentee ballots and affidavit ballots.

Kent received 752 votes (52.11%) while Republican mayoral candidate Jeff Olson garnered 687 votes  (47.61%). Olson, who was elected as a Democrat to three terms as Ward One aldermen, changed parties to challenge Kent for the mayor’s seat. Kent was a New Albany police investigator before he was first elected as mayor in 2005. Olson is a restaurateur. There were four write-in votes in the mayoral race.

Republican Keith Conlee, a sales manager for a national healthcare company, was elected Alderman at Large with 1,064 votes (75.78%). He resoundingly defeated Democrat Larry Dykes, a retiree of both U.S. military service and the city’s public school system, who received 340 votes (24.22%).

The Alderman at Large position on the city board was an open seat, with incumbent Democrat Scott Dunnam not seeking re-election.

However, after announcing he would not again seek election as Alderman at Large, Dunnam then filed as a Democrat for the Ward One position on the city board, and won the May 3rd primary.

Amy Livingston (R), newly elected Alderman, Ward One

The Republican nominee for Ward One Alderman was educator Amy Livingston, a newcomer to elective politics. Republican Livingston received 288 votes (77.21%) Tuesday while Democrat Dunnam got just 85 votes (22.79%). Livingston, possibly the first woman ever elected to the city board, will be sworn into office in July along with all other New Albany elective officials.

Four other New Albany city officials were re elected without ballot opposition Tuesday.

Incumbent Democrat Police Chief Chris Robertson handily defeated a challenge in the May primary, and had no opponent on the ballot Tuesday. Robertson got 1,350 votes, and there were nine write-in votes for police chief.

Incumbent Ward Two Alderman Johnny Anderson, a Democrat, had no opponent in the primary or the general election and received 281 votes in Tuesday’s balloting. There were no write-ins in Ward Two.

Incumbent Ward Three Alderman Kevin Dale White, a Democrat, easily defeated a primary challenger and had no Republican general election opponent. He was re-elected with 205 votes. There were two write-in votes in Ward Three.

Incumbent Republican Ward Four Alderman Will Tucker had no opponent on the general city election ballot. Tucker got 454 votes and there were nine write-ins.

For the last meeting of the current Board of Aldermen.