Marvene Noel
Marvene Noel won the City Council District 8 runoff election on Thursday by 70 votes over Marie Mott.
Ms. Mott had an early lead over Ms. Noel in early voting returns. However, the final count was:
Marvene Noel 400
Marie Mott 330
With early votes counted, it was Mott 130 and Noel 106.
Then with one of nine precincts reporting it was Mott 135 and Noel 107.
With three of nine precincts, Ms. Noel had gone ahead 161 to 151.
After six precincts had reported, Ms. Noel had built her lead to 271 to 193.
With all but one precinct reporting, it was Noel 399 and Mott 330. Only one vote was recorded in the final precinct.
There were 8,295 eligible voters.
Precincts in District 8 are:
Alton Park* Bethlehem Center 200 W 38th St, Chattanooga, TN 37410
Avondale* Avondale Community Center 1305 Dodson Ave, Chattanooga, TN 37406
Bushtown* Carver Community Center 600 N Orchard Knob Ave, Chattanooga, TN 37404
Courthouse* Olivet Baptist Church (Kingdom Center) 730 E Martin Luther King Blvd, Chattanooga, TN 37403
Downtown* Dogwood Manor Community Room 959 Gateway Ave, Chattanooga, TN 37402
East Chattanooga* East Chattanooga Community Center 2409 Dodson Ave, Chattanooga, TN 37406
East Lake* East Lake Senior Center 3208 15th Avenue, Chattanooga, TN 37407
Eastside* Clear Story Arts (Gallery Room) 1673 S Holtzclaw Avenue, Chattanooga, TN 37404
Ridgedale* Clear Story Arts (Gallery Room) 1673 S Holtzclaw Avenue, Chattanooga, TN 37404.
Ms. Mott was the top vote-getter in an earlier three-person race, but she did not get the needed 50 percent plus.
Ms. Noel has been serving as the interim councilperson after Anthony Byrd stepped down to become City Court clerk.
Ms. Mott, a previous protest leader and frequent speaker at City Council meetings, has been in the news in recent days on two videos.
One showed prior comments by Ms. Mott about Jews and slavery in which she said Jewish people took up arms with "traitors" to defend slavery. She asked, "When are we going to deal with it?"
On Sunday night she cursed at officers and claimed racism during a traffic stop. City Police on Wednesday released the video of that stop.
Mayor Tim Kelly endorsed Ms. Noel, and Councilman Ken Smith came out against the Mott candidacy, saying she was the leader in a "terrifying" protest outside his Hixson home.