Brownsville mayor awaits final election results
Brownsville Mayor Lewis Hosler is waiting for the official tally from Tuesday’s election before conceding the race to his opponent, Lester Ward. The unofficial results have the political newcomer with an 11-vote lead over Hosler, 349 to 338. Ward was kicked off the ballot for the Democratic nomination in the primary because his paperwork wasn’t filed on time at the borough. He was knocked off the ballot as the Republican nominee when he and Hosler received the same number of write-in votes and he lost the drawing of lots. Apparently, his third attempt to get on the ballot as an independent candidate did the trick.
“It’s not over until it’s over, but I think it’s about there,” Ward said. “It looks good. To be honest, we had very good grassroots efforts. Between my wife and myself, we knocked on about 1,000 doors. The people were very receptive. I feel good about my prospect of doing some good in this town.”
It is believed that Ward will be the first black mayor in Fayette County history if he is seated. Still, Ward said race was not an issue in the campaign.
“I didn’t consider race to be a factor in Brownsville nor did I try to raise it. I know who I am, I know what I am and I know what I stand for,” Ward said.
Hosler said he isn’t ready to concede the election, since there are still some provisional ballots to be counted and a tally discrepancy in one ward, but he does concede that Ward ran a good race.
“I’m going to tell him he did an excellent job getting his people out. That’s where I failed. I didn’t get my people out,” Hosler said. “It was lost in the last hour. They did their homework. I can’t say enough good about how he conducted himself. Lester and I will always be friends, no matter which way it comes out.”
Hosler said he intends to remain active in the community, regardless of the results.
“There are a lot of things I still want to do in this community. I’d like to see a veterans memorial and I’d like to see an addition on the library, if I have to get on the board myself,” Hosler said.
While Ward appears to have squeaked past Hosler in the mayor’s race, Ross Swords didn’t do as well in his bid to unseat one of the three incumbents running for office.
Swords, who was removed from the Democratic primary ballot by the courts for not meeting the residency requirement, had won the Republican nomination on write-ins, but that didn’t help him win a seat Tuesday. Swords placed fourth with 288 votes. Jack Lawver led the race with 461 votes according to the unofficial tally, followed by Tracy Sheehan Zivkovich with 310 and Tom Bush with 305.
Ward said he hopes Swords, who is 26, is not discouraged by his campaign experience.
“We need young people to be involved. I won’t say most people that are in are old, but they’re middle aged and getting up there,” Ward said.