FORT VALLEY, Ga. — On Tuesday night, Jeffery Lundy was announced as the mayor-elect of Fort Valley, according to the City of Fort Valley.
Lundy won with 490 votes compared to his opponent, LeMario Brown, who had 471 votes.
13WMAZ caught up with Lundy after the win.
"First, I want to say thank you, not just to my voters, but to everybody who exercised their right to vote, voting for your candidate of choice. I want to say thank you all for doing just that," Lundy said.
Lundy also offered some words of thanks for his opponent.
"To Mr. Lemario Brown, I say thank you just for putting yourself out there and running a race, and I'm looking forward to working with him and every other city council member in the future," Lundy said.
Jeffery Lundy is a pastor at Love and Kindness Ministry, and worked in law enforcement as a uniform patrol division at Fort Valley for more than 30 years.
In an earlier interview, Lundy said public health and safety will be paramount for him as mayor.
"Statistics show that we have one of the highest crime rates for a city this size, so rather than taking that as a negative, we are going to take it as ways to improve the service, our relationship in the community -- not only that, but those who are committing these crimes know that, to the full extent to the law, they will be prosecuted," said Lundy.
Lundy also said he wants to teach the youth on how to avoid trouble by creating a place for them to go.
"Where the youth can come together and we can offer these life skills, offer things to do. Studies showing a young person that's idle, don't have anything to do, they're more prone to get into mishaps and mischief and things of that nature," said Lundy.
When asked for what's next, he said running for mayor has been a journey, so he wants to rest and then get to work.
"It has been a journey that was exhausting at times, but I knew it wasn't over until the last vote was counted, so I'm going to find the time to go on a sabbatical and then come back and get ready to go to work for the people," Lundy said.
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