Who will be the next mayor?

The answer to the question of just who will be Cairo’s next mayor will be answered next week, but as advanced voting moves into the final days it appears a small minority of the city’s registered voters will cast ballots in the mayor’s race.
Advanced voting will end at 5 p.m. this Friday, Nov. 1, and election day is next Tuesday. All early voting takes place at the Grady County Courthouse from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. and election day polling will be conducted at the Grady County Agri-Center from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.
As of the close of business Tuesday, 293 early ballots had been cast and 19 absentees had been mailed to voters who requested them.
The race for mayor is between two former Grady County commissioners, Bobby Burns and Charles Renaud.
There are over 5,600 registered voters in the city and, in the last contested mayor’s race in Nov. 2005, a total of 1,348 votes were cast.
Both candidates have been busy campaigning and seeking to drum up support at the polls as the campaign draws to an end.
Burns, 75, served on the Grady County Commission for 16 years and is currently serving on the Grady County Board of Tax Assessors. He is a retired banker and works along with his son in the family business, First Realty & Appraisals.
Renaud, 49, served a four-year term on the Grady County Commission. He is the owner of Paper Making Control Services, a company based in Port St. Joe, Fla. He is also a licensed real estate appraiser.
A third candidate, Scott Higginbotham, withdrew from the race, but not before ballots had been printed and the electronic voting machines programmed for the election.
Notices of Higginbotham’s withdrawal have been posted at the Courthouse and will also be posted at the Grady County Agri-Center on the day of the election.
For more information about the upcoming city election contact City Clerk Carolyn Lee at 229-377-1722, ext. 111.