Paul Morrison, Rich Creek’s appointed mayor following a major leadership shakeup, has won a four-year term as mayor through a write-in campaign.
The Giles County registrar’s office verified the election results Wednesday. Of the 106 votes cast by residents who manually wrote in a candidate’s name, Morrison got 77.
Morrison’s win nearly completes the town’s leadership transition after the previous mayor and four town council members abruptly resigned in August. A special election is expected in November 2026 to fill two of the town council seats; a judge appointed Phillip Hunt and Christopher Thornton in the meantime. The other two town council appointees, Mikhail Mann and Christopher Wickline, won their respective races last week after running unopposed for the other two seats.
The former mayor, Anne Chambers, had previously been the only candidate for mayor on the ballot. By the time she resigned, state deadlines had already passed to add any other candidates. Chambers had the second-highest total of write-ins with nine votes.
Morrison, 57, was appointed mayor in September. He has lived in Rich Creek, a town of about 700 people, since 1999, and has served on the town’s planning commission since 2006. He said this week that his focus is on tying up loose ends caused by the leadership disruption and looking ahead.
“We’re going forward, we’re not looking back,” he said. “We can talk about it [the past] all day, but that’s not going to fix anything.”
Since the appointees took over town administration in September, Morrison said they hired back Richard Cox, the town manager who resigned in July, and another town employee who quit under the previous administration.
The town is also months behind on passing a budget, and the town council has set a public hearing and special meeting to finalize it. The public hearing on the budget will take place at 6 p.m. Dec. 9 at the town administration building, 250 Old Virginia Ave. The special meeting to vote on the budget is scheduled for 5 p.m. Dec. 16.