by Marty Trese, KnoxPages.com Managing Editor
MOUNT VERNON – On Tuesday, a political newcomer defeated a long time city council member to become the Republican party’s candidate for Mount Vernon mayor in the November election. According to the unofficial, final results posted by the Knox County Board of Electitons Matt Starr finished with 638 votes to Michael Hillier’s 488.
Starr will face 5-term incumbent Democrat Richard Mavis. After the results were released Starr celebrated at the Alcove and said, “I’m excited… it’s a nice victory.” He also said, “I do want to congratulate Mike for running a great campaign. I want to thank my wife for keeping me grounded. I want to thank my treasurer Brittany Whitney for keeping me on budget and on task and my communications manager, Sara Lynn Kerr, for keeping me on message.”
Mike Hillier, right, congratulated Matt Starr on his victory at The Alcove after the results of the mayoral primary were released Tuesday night. KnoxPages.com photo by Marty Trese
Starr spoke about running against Mavis in November. “Dick Mavis has served Mount Vernon very well but I think it’s time that we have a new generation of leadership, a new arm on the mound, to take us into the next 20 years. I look forward to campaigning and I look forward to engaging with him.”
Hillier said, “With any campaign you always think you did your best..you wonder if you should have done something different. Ten years on City Council will come to an end in December. We’ll have to find another way to start working for the people.”
