2009.02.17
Howard wins in Radford
Ann Howard can take "interim" out of her title.
She has been elected Radford's circuit court clerk.
Howard, the only candidate on the ballot, was the choice on 186 of the 189 ballots counted on Tuesday. There were two write-ins. One ballot was returned unmarked.
Radford held a special election to fill the clerk's job because Zelda Vaughn retired Dec. 31. Vaughn started working in the clerk's office in 1975 and had been clerk since 1996.
When J.C. Harman, the clerk who preceded Vaughn, retired, he endorsed Vaughn, who won a three-way 1995 race by a 2-to-1 margin.
Howard, Vaughn's deputy clerk, was sworn in as interim clerk Jan. 1. Howard is Harman's daughter.
Tracy Howard, Ann Howard's husband and the city's voter registrar, said last week he'd be tickled if 500 people turned out. By 5 p.m. on election day, he was hoping for 200. The city came up 11 short of that, even counting the 11 absentee ballots that came in before election day.
Howard will serve the two years remaining in Vaughn's term before standing for an eight-year term of her own.
-- Tim Thornton
