Will the special election resemble 1977?

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As a political junkie…we can only hope things will get as crazy as they did in 1977.

Despite 46 candidates on the ballot, one candidate won a majority on the first vote.

Emory Folmar would not only win the election but go on to become a fixture as Montgomery’s mayor for the next 22 years and 10 months.

Folmar, who had been in the construction business before starting his second career, blew away the other candidates with a landslide victory. He received 15,937 votes during the April 12 special election. Runner-up Frank Sego earned 3,545 votes.

His overwhelming victory in that special election still has some people confused about the rules for a special election.

City Clerk Brenda Blalock said that in talking with Montgomerians about the upcoming special election, she has found that many voters are under the mistaken impression that there isn't a runoff if a candidate doesn't win a majority. The reason is because so many people ran in the 1977 election that people assumed Folmar couldn’t have gotten the majority of the votes.

The Advertiser published the vote totals from that race again this morning…what made me laugh is one of the candidates didn’t get a single vote. Apparently, he didn’t even think he should be mayor.

Will the special election resemble 1977? | montgomeryadvertiser.com | Montgomery Advertiser.