Burgess moves closer to becoming Washington’s next mayor
Jojo Burgess is moving ever closer to becoming Washington’s next mayor after incumbent Scott Putnam failed to receive enough write-in votes on the Republican side of the ticket during last week’s primary.
“It’s going to be a team effort to move things in the right direction,” Burgess said of his hopes to work closely with council on new ideas he has for the city. “It’s going to be different, but we’ll have to see if those differences work and we’ll talk through them and work through them.”
Burgess defeated Putnam by a 483-415 vote total in the Democratic primary May 16 to secure that party’s nomination. While Putnam also mounted a write-in campaign on the Republican side of the ticket, he received only 80 votes, leaving him just shy of the 100-vote threshold needed to secure the GOP nomination that would have allowed him to challenge Burgess in November. Burgess received 20 write-in votes in the Republican primary, so no nominee will appear on the GOP side for the mayoral race.
That means Burgess will run unopposed in the Nov. 7 general election if no independent candidate decides to get into the race. That would set up an uncontested victory for Burgess and make him the first Black mayor in the city of Washington’s history.
“I’m extremely happy about it, I can tell you that,” Burgess said. “It’s a big moment for me with my family being the first Black mayor in the historic times in this city. That’s a big moment.”
Burgess also praised Putnam, who has been mayor since 2016, for his public service and his response to him following the primary.
“I have nothing but respect for Mr. Putnam. He’s been gracious every time I talked to him,” Burgess said. “I’m happy for everything he’s done for the city. Anytime someone gives his time for public service, you have to respect that.”
While Putnam admitted that he’s still getting over the “sting of defeat,” he said he plans to work hard as mayor during the final seven months of his term that expires in early January.
“I think we’ve made great strides in the city over the last seven years,” Putnam said. “We’ve put a lot of money into our neighborhoods and downtown and our park, and continued to support our first responders through it all.”
He wished his successor luck and said he’ll do whatever is needed to help with the transition.
“There’s a lot you do to learn as you go,” Putnam said about growing into the role as mayor.
The Washington County elections office began counting write-in votes Tuesday and continued working Wednesday to tabulate those numbers.
Among the countywide races, Coroner Timothy Warco received about 1,700 write-in votes in the Democratic primary after he defeated challenger Marc Zmijowski in the Republican primary, 9,926 votes to 7,602. That means Warco will run unopposed in the general election, setting him up to serve an eighth term as coroner.
In another race of interest, Morris Township voters approved four separate ordinances to allow for the sale of alcoholic beverages in the municipality. The township had been a “dry community” until the passage of the ordinance, although it’s not known when the changes will go into effect.