Voters in small Tennessee town elect a dead man as mayor even though he had died weeks earlier

Dead man wins mayor’s race in small Tennessee town

TRACY CITY, Tenn. — A dead man has been elected mayor of Tracy City, Tenn.

Carl Robin Geary died suddenly a few weeks ago. But he received 268 votes anyway in Tuesday’s nonpartisan election, beating out incumbent Barbara Brock with 85 votes in the two-candidate race.

An election administrator, Donna Basham, said Wednesday she wouldn’t speculate on why Geary won posthumously but noted his death had been widely reported at the time in this corner of southeastern Tennessee.

She says the city council will now have to appoint a mayor to the four-year term.

Brock had been appointed mayor 16 months ago when the previous mayor died. She says she thought she had done a good job but added voters wanted a return to the past.