- Credibility:
CHATHAM — Longtime Ald. Roderick Sawyer appears to have avoided a runoff in the 6th Ward.
With 97 percent of precincts reporting Tuesday night, Sawyer had 50.5 percent of the vote. Challengers’ Richard Wooten had 19 percent and Deborah Foster-Bonner had 30 percent, apparently sealing Sawyer’s third term.
Vote-by-mail ballots have yet to be calculated but it’s unclear if there are enough to lower Sawyer under the 50-percent threshold.
Sawyer, the son of late Mayor Eugene Sawyer, took office in 2011 after defeating incumbent Freddrenna Lyle.
The 6th Ward has seen over $100 million in capital improvements, including the renovations of the Whitney Young Library and Robeson High School and the construction of a new 3rd District police station.
The 6th Ward includes all or parts of Chatham, Englewood and West Englewood.
