Amy Guinn to be Hamlet Mayor, Howe joins Rockingham council

ROCKINGHAM — The results are in for the 2023 municipal election in Richmond county.

In Hamlet, Amy Guinn received more votes (268) than incumbent mayor Bill Bayless (239).

Guinn will become the new mayor of Hamlet, being joined by council members Abbie Covington (358 votes), Maurice Lee Stuart II (313) and Oscar Sellers (268) who were all re-elected. Newcomer candidate Ray Mills received 201 votes, 17.5% of the vote, but did not earn enough to win a spot on the board.

In Rockingham, Bennett Deane (433 votes) and Gene Willard (334) will return to the city council, along with newcomer Holly Howe (355), who will be replacing former Mayor Steve Morris who decided not to run. Newcomer candidate Jeff Benson received 309 votes and did not earn a spot on the board. Mayor John Hutchinson ran unopposed and earned 537 votes.

In Hoffman Karla Bostick (31 votes) defeated James Edward Jasper, Jr. (29) for the mayorship. All five city council members in Hoffman are returning.

In Ellerbe, Brenda Capel received 39 votes in her unopposed re-election as mayor, and Jeremy McKenzie and John Sears Jr. will be returning to the city council.

In Norman, Tonia Collins received 10 votes to keep her as the mayor, while Stephen Cranford, Terry Parsons and Nancy Paxton will be returning to the council.

1,238 total votes were cast in Richmond County in the November 2023 elections, out of about 10,800 registered voters. 276 of those votes were cast early. All numbers are unofficial at this times according to the Richmond County Board of Elections.