East Cleveland Mayor Brandon King survives recall while ward 3 councilman Ernest Smith is recalled....By Clevelandurbannews.com and kathywraycolemanonlienenewsblog.com, Ohio's Black digital news leader
East Cleveland Mayor Brandon King Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio- East Cleveland Mayor Brandon King narrowly survived a recall effort Tuesday night while voters simultaneously ousted council vice president Ernest Smith, a ward 3 councilman who also faced recall. With all votes from all 15 precincts counted, unofficial results from the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections reveal that 51 percent of East Cleveland voters voted against the mayoral recall (1,254 voters) and 49 percent voted for the measure (1,226 voters). Smith lost his attempt to escape recall by 16 percentage points, 58 percent (534 for recall vote) to 42 percent (389 against recall votes). King survived recall by 18 votes. Community activists seeking to recall the mayor submitted certified 322 valid petition signatures earlier this year to the board of elections for the recall effort,11 more than the 311 needed to put the issue before voters. Council Vice Presid