Canton Re-Elects Bill Grant, Outs John Rust From City Council

CANTON, GA -- There will be some slight changes to the Canton City Council when January rolls around. That's because two familiar faces and one new public servant will all be sworn into office to serve four-year terms.

City voters have re-elected Bill Grant to the Ward 2 seat, defeating challenger and former City Clerk Susan Stanton. Grant won with 72 percent, or 1,244 votes, compared to Stanton's 28 percent, or 478 votes.

Grant said he was pleased with Tuesday's results.

"I’m just happy to get back to doing the work," he said of his role as a City Council member. "I don’t really enjoy politics or campaigning. I just like doing the work."

Incumbent John Rust has lost his re-election bid to another term, as challenger Nick Estes has taken control of the Ward 3 seat. Estes defeated Rust with 63 percent, or 1,113, of the vote to Rust's 37 percent, or 647.

Ward 1 incumbent Sandy McGrew did not have a challenger. Out of Canton's 14,202 registered voters, only 1,826 citizens, or 13.1 percent, chose to take part in the Nov. 7 elections.

Cherokee County voters have also overwhelmingly given the green light in approving the renewal of the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax. The SPLOST renewal passed with 79 percent, or 7,204 votes. Twenty-one percent of voters, or 1,916 citizens, voted against the ballot question. Cherokee has 150,383 registered voters and only 6.1 percent of those citizens turned out to vote.

Results are unofficial until they are certified by the Cherokee County Board of Elections and Voter Registration. Return for updates.

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