SALISBURY, Md. -- After weeks of anticipation, the Wicomico County Board of Elections officially declared Randy Taylor as the new Mayor of Salisbury. The announcement followed the tallying of the final 131 absentee ballots on Friday morning.
The nail-biting election came to an end as Taylor secured the top position, garnering 1,150 votes, while Megan Outten closely trailed with 1,100 votes. Jermichael Mitchell ended with 914 votes.
Dionne Church, Wicomico County's Election Director, announced the results.
"The race has now ended with Randy Taylor having the most votes. Congratulations to our new mayor of Salisbury," said Church.
In an interview following the announcement, Mayor-elect Randy Taylor expressed his excitement and eagerness to lead the city.
"Feels great, you know we had a long week here waiting for the absentees to be counted and provisionals, and we did it today," said Taylor. "Looking forward to leading the city in a new direction."
Shane Saylor, who lives in Salisbury, voiced optimism about Taylor's potential as mayor.
"I think Randy could do a good job, I'd like to see him give it his best, and I'd like to see people accept him regardless of what party they're in and just kind of give him a shot and see how he does," said Saylor.
While Megan Outten acknowledged the disappointing result, she expressed relief.
"I'm just happy it's finally done, and honestly, I'm excited for the next steps that the city is gonna take," said Outten. "The city has elected its next mayor, and starting Monday, you know we're going to see the city take that next step."
Despite the setback, Outten did not rule out the possibility of running again in the future.
"You never know. I will say this, I can't speak on anything right now, but yeah, right now I'm just excited to be spending time with my family," said Outten.
What kind of mayor can people in Salisbury expect?
"I hope an inclusive one, one that tells you the truth and keeps transparency front and center," said Taylor.
Randy Taylor is set to be sworn in on Monday, November 20th at 6:00 p.m. at Fire Station 16. He said he is looking forward to his first few weeks in office.
"Getting to know the people who are running the city now in terms of administration and building those relationships and building a team," said Taylor. "Let's get the ores going in the right direction."
