Hill takes runoff for Lauderdale superintendent

Hill defeated Gary Dan Williams in Tuesday's postponed Republican Party runoff to become the next Lauderdale County superintendent.

"Words can't describe it," said Hill, who is principal at Brooks High School. "I'm so thankful and so blessed. I've got to thank everybody who helped me back through the beginning of the campaign and through this pandemic."

Hill accumulated approximately 55.5% of the votes to Williams' 44.5% with the total count coming in at 6,560 votes to 5,252.

Hill and Williams, principal at Allen Thornton Career Technical Center in Lauderdale County, made it to the runoff after Hill accumulated 4,501 votes to Williams' 4,432 in the four-candidate March 3 primary, which was a difference of less than half a percentage point.

Incumbent Jon Hatton finished a close third with 4,268 votes.

The runoff had been set for March 31, but was postponed until Tuesday due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It was one of the closest races in the history of the county and then it got postponed," Hill said. "It's been a long, hard process and I couldn't have done it without a lot of support."

The educator and former coach said there also were many good experiences during that stretch.

"One of the biggest things that touched me is a lot of former students, colleagues and players put out testimonials through Facebook about how I helped them in high school and through their career," Hill said.

Williams said this is a difficult time for schools due to the pandemic and he hopes everyone works together to get through it.

"The people of Lauderdale County have spoken," he said. "Mr. Hill is superintendent-elect and I congratulate him. We all need to rally around him, myself included. We're all in this together. The students and their futures are at stake."

Williams said he will remain dedicated to his position.

"I'm disappointed tonight, but I thank all the people who voted for me and supported me," he said. "I'll continue to strive to be the being the best career tech director and principal at Allen Thornton I can be."