Seaford mayor, councilman win another term

By Andrew Sharp

Update: The city's board of elections says there were errors in counting the absentee ballots, which did not affect the candidate totals but resulted in an error in the report of total ballots cast. This story has been updated with the correct numbers.

Of the almost 5,000 newly eligible voters in the city of Seaford, a little under 500 turned out on Saturday. There were also 115 absentee votes, for a total of 602 votes cast.  

Mayor David Genshaw, who has served in the post since 2013, easily won a fifth term, defeating challenger Pat Jones 412 to 189.

Councilman Matt MacCoy won another three-year term, beating Stacie Spicer 400 to 199.

It's hard to draw too many conclusions from an election that featured about 15 percent of Seaford's electorate. However, the city's leadership had drawn sharp criticism from some quarters after the Council voted recently for an ordinance requiring burial or cremation for fetal remains after abortion or in certain cases miscarriage.

That was widely seen as a shot at Planned Parenthood after it opened up a new clinic in the city. The move galvanized an opposition movement in this election, with two women angling for a spot in the currently all-male mayor and Council leadership.  

It did not, however, end up turning the majority of voters against Genshaw and MacCoy, at least among those who showed up. Instead, voters favored the incumbents by a 2-1 margin.