Incumbent leadstight race; rival tohit trail runningBy JOHN PECKTimes Staff Writerjohn.peck@htimes.com

Tommy Battle sidetrackedthree-term Mayor LorettaSpencer’s re-election hopesTuesdaynightinadown-to-the-wireelectioncontestthatisnowheaded for a runoff.Battle, a 52-year-old busi-

nessmanandformercitycoun-cilman,wastednotimerevvinguphis runoff campaign for theOct. 7 rematch.Hecommittedto appearances on the earlymorning news shows and ral-lied supporters to hit the cam-paign trail today towoovoters.Spencer,71,outpolledBattle

14,871 votes to 14,486 votes (adifferenceofonly385votes)butarunoffisrequiredsinceneithercandidate garnered the re-quired50percentplusonevote.Perennial candidate Jackie

Reed won 530 votes, and sec-ond-time mayoral candidateMichaelPolemenigot143votes.Voterturnoutwaslow.About

28percentofthecity’s108,000registeredvoters turnedoutonarainyday.Inthe2004mayor’srace,38percentof103,543vot-ers turned out.A runoff berth is a familiar

place for Spencer. She battledParkerGriffith,nowastatesen-ator who is running for Con-gress, in the 2004 mayoralrunoff. Spencer won that racewith 55 percent of the vote.Spencer speculatedmanyof

herlongtimesupportersfeltshehad the race won and simplydidn’t vote because of the rain.In an interview at her electionreturnspartyat theseniorcen-ter on Drake Avenue, Spencersaidshewillcontinuetoremind

TonightHeadline speaker: Sen. Joe

Biden of Delaware, BarackObama’s running mate.Others: former President Clin-

ton, former Sen. Majority LeaderTom Daschle of South Dakota,New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson,Sens. Evan Bayh of Indiana, JohnKerry of Massachusetts and JayRockefeller of West Virginia.

Huntsville, AlabamaVol. 99, No. 158, 40 pagesContents © 2008, The Huntsville Times

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Weather,B6

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Classifieds: 532-4222For more breaking news WEDNESDAY / AUGUST 27 / 2008

FOOTBALL WEEK, DAY 4:TASTY TAILGATING RECIPES,D1; UA, AU COVERAGE, E1

Unfinished businessSpencer, Battle tomeet inOct. 7 runoff formayor

__ELECTION 2008__

HuntsvilleMayorLoretta Spencer 14,871 49.5%Tommy Battle 14,486 48.2%Jackie Reed 530 1.8%Michael Polemeni 143 0.5%

City Council, District 1Richard Showers 2,359 60.6%Reggie McKenzie 1,347 34.6%Ralph Timberlake 188 4.8%

City Council, District 5Richard Gipson 1,016 25.6%Will Culver 940 23.7%Angela Whaley 660 16.7%James Bailey 479 12.1%Christopher Horn 331 8.4%Ricky Harris 293 7.4%Reginald Haley 243 6.1%

(With 54 of 55 precincts oounted,98.18%)

Madison

MayorPaul Finley 4,014 53.0%Sandy Kirkindall 3,295 43.5%Michael Callahan 261 3.5%

City Council, District 1Tim Holcombe 538 57.3%Cynthia McCollum 401 42.7%

City Council, District 2Steve Haraway 1,273 79.4%Paul Fontaine 330 20.6%

City Council, District 3Jerry Jennings 373 56.9%Stephen Simpson 283 43.1%

On the NetFor a breakdown of Huntsville

votes by precinct, visitblog.al.com/ht/precinctchart

Gipson, Culvertop vote-gettersforWatson’s seatBy PATRICIA C. McCARTERTimes Staff Writerpatricia.mccarter@htimes.com

Noneofthesevencandidatesfor the open District 5Huntsville City Council seatcame close to a majority inTuesdaynight’selection, sothetop two vote-getters are head-ed into a runoff.According to an unofficial

tally of the crowded ballot,businessman Richard Gipsongot 25.6 percent (1,016 votes),andretiredcitymagistrateWill

Culvercameinsecondwith23.7percent(940votes).Ifthoseto-talshold, the twowill faceeachother in anOct. 7 runoff.

The District 5 seat is beingvacated by three-term Coun-cilman Glenn Watson, whomade an unsuccessful run for

theMadisonCountyCommis-sion this summer. For the firsttime, the district situated inwest and northwest ismajori-ty black, and six of the sevencandidates vying for the seatwere black.MadisonCountyCourthouse

records shows that just over11,000–or53percent–of the21,264 registered voters in thedistrict are black.Gipson is white. Culver is

black. Bothmen said Tuesdaynight they do not want therunoff to be a black/whiteissue,butitseemsprobablethatrace could impact the out-

By WENDY REEVESTimes Staff Writerwendy.reeves@htimes.com

MADISON–Officialreturnsinthemayor’sraceshowPaul Finley carried every district Tuesday to defeatMayor SandyKirkindall andMike Callahan.Finley won 4,014 votes (53 percent), to 3,295 for

Kirkindall (44 percent) and 261 for Callahan (3 per-cent).CrowdsofsupportersfilledFinley’scampaignhead-

quarters andKirkindall’s home towait onelection re-turns.“We had a commitment to a goal, a plan in place,

and we worked that plan with a team of supporters

Will Culver Richard Gipson

Dave Dieter/Huntsville Times

Challenger Paul Finley gets a congratulatory hug fromhis wife, Julie, after defeating incumbent SandyKirkindall in the Madison mayor’s race.

Former Democraticrival calls herself ‘proudsupporter of Obama’By DAVID ESPOAP Special Correspondent

DENVER–HillaryRodhamClintonsummoned the millions of voters whosupported her in the primaries to sendBarack Obama to the White HouseTuesdaynight,anddrewthunderousap-plauseattheDemocraticNationalCon-

vention when she de-claredherone-timerivalis “my candidate and hemust be our president.”“Wedon’t have amo-

ment to lose or a vote tospare,” said the formerfirstlady,writingthefinalchapterinaquestfortheWhiteHouseeverybitaspioneering as Obama’sown.Thepackedconventionfloorbecame

a sea of white “Hillary”signs as the New Yorksenator – Obama’sfiercestrivalacross56pri-maries and caucuses –strodetothepodiumforher prime-time speech.The signs were soon re-placed by others thatread simply, “Unity.”Whileherremarksin-

cluded a full-throatedendorsementofObama,Clintondidnot

say whether she would have her nameplaced in nomination or seek a formalrollcallofthestateswhentheparty’stopprize is awarded by delegates tonight.Clinton had been the prohibitive fa-

vorite for the nomination when shelaunchedher campaign last year, seek-ingtobecomethefirstfemalepresident.ButshefellbehindObamaafterthelead-offIowacaucusesinJanuary,andhenowispoisedtobecomethefirstblacknom-

In today’s Times• Blogger Larisa

Thomason hasn’t seendivided Democrats. A4• Colorado men

no true threat tocandidate. A5• Obama pushes

economics on road toDenver. A5

MADISONMAYOR

Glenn Baeske/Huntsville Times

Tommy Battle speaks to supporters Emily Riley, left, and her son Logan, who was wearing a shirt of Battlebumper stickers.

Please see COUNCIL on A4

Robin Conn/Huntsville Times

Three-term Huntsville Mayor Loretta Spencer greets cheering supporters Tuesday night with herdaughter Sarah Chappell and son-in-law Mike Chappell.

Please see UNFINISHED on A4

Please see CLINTON on A4

Paul Finleysweeps pastKirkindall

Please see FINLEY on A4

Runoff set in District 5 council race

‘No way. No how. NoMcCain,’ Clinton says

•MOREELECTIONRESULTS, B1