Incumbent councilwoman defeated as Gautier turns attention to mayor’s race

Most Gautier residents can now turn their attention to the upcoming mayor’s election after voters on Tuesday decided all but one of the city council seats.

One incumbent on Tuesday won re-election to the city council and one incumbent, Mary Martin, was defeated. Another incumbent moved to a different position on the council.

On June 8, two well-known names in Gautier — Incumbent Phil Torjusen and Ward 3 councilman Casey Vaughan — will be in the general election for mayor. Torjusen is a Republican and Vaughn is an independent.

Three council seats were decided in Tuesday’s primary and one will be contested in the general election.

Here’s a breakdown by ward:

At Large — Republican Adam Colledge, the current Ward 5 aldermen, narrowly defeated Incumbent Republican Mary Martin. Unofficial returns show Colledge with 722 votes, as opposed to 658 votes for Martin.

Ward 1 — Incumbent Cameron George defeated Tony Miller Tuesday. George got 242 votes, Miller got 110 votes.

Ward 2 — Incumbent Richard Jackson had no opposition and is re-elected.

Ward 3 — Former Gautier Mayor Gordon Gollott defeated fellow Republican Chris Hoover. Gollott got 150 votes and Hoover got 104 votes. Candidate Billy Pope had withdrawn from this election, but still got 41 votes. This seat was vacated by Vaughn so that he could run for mayor.

Ward 4 — Incumbent Charles “Rusty” Anderson had no opposition in the primary. An independent candidate awaits in the general election.

Ward 5 —Dante Elbin was unopposed and is elected.

This story was originally published April 6, 2021 at 10:31 PM.