DAPHNE, Ala. — Turns out, many residents do want to “Bring Back Brown,” to quote the campaign slogan of three-time Daphne mayor Harry Brown, who faces an Oct. 7 runoff election with incumbent Fred Small.

Brown — mayor from 1992–2004 — received 68 more votes than Small, which wasn’t enough for an outright win, according to unofficial results posted around 8:30 p.m. after Tuesday’s municipal election.

Ernie Berger, the founder of Santa-America — an organization that year-round provides Santa Claus visits to children in hospice care — and a political newcomer, received around 900 votes in the race for Daphne’s highest post, which next term will pay $75,000 a year.

In the city council race, residents largely favored incumbents.

District 2 incumbent Cathy Barnette  defeated Kathy Ebbitt; District 3 incumbent John Lake passed Pina Witherington at the polls; District 4 incumbent Greg Burnam netted more votes than Gary Reyes; District 5 incumbent Ron Scott defeated Willie Robison; and Districts 1 and 7 candidates — Bailey Yelding and August Palumbo — were unopposed and already had been appointed to another four-year term.

District 6 incumbent Eric Nager, however, was defeated by Derek Boulware. Nager had been appointed to the council last November after Regina Landry resigned her post and moved to Fairhope.

Council members next term will earn $12,000 annually.

A total of 3,800 — out of Daphne’s more than 20,000 — residents — voted in this year’s election.

“It was a lower turnout compared to four years ago,” Election Official David Cohen said.

A total of 13,457 residents are registered to vote, he said.

As results trickled in, more certainty was given to the mayor, District 2 and District 6 seats.

“Harry Brown and Fred Small are in a runoff,” Cohen said, during an announcement to the media in City Hall’s new council chambers. 

“Derek Boulware appears to have beat Eric Nager … Cathy beat Kathy.”

Brown, a commercial real estate agent and managing broker, campaigned for financial stability — promoting a business leaders coalition and rethinking the business license ordinance and fees; full-time leadership and an “open door” policy; and quality of life projects such as street resurfacings, environmental stewardship, traffic management and recreation facilities.

Small campaigned for a council- and citizens-led “visioning process” that would lay the groundwork for a city-wide strategic plan; finding a balance between aesthetics and commerce; and creating a comprehensive road resurfacing plan. 

Tuesday night, Main Street passersby heard the reverberation of party music coming from Small’s campaign headquarters just beside Centennial Park. Berger’s camp spent the evening at the Lake Forest Country Club and Brown’s supporters were situated in a building near the Winn-Dixie Marketplace off U.S. Highway 98.

Prior to the election, the candidates gave aggressive efforts to get out their message.

A Daphne Bulletin reporter observed clerks at Small’s Fastime service station wearing items that showed support for the incumbent. Berger and Brown both had Web sites that aimed to play on their perceived strengths. Berger — who stressed government transparency in his speeches — posted full-length YouTube videos of the candidate forums, and in newspaper ads explained that the video cameras used cost $130, perhaps contending fiscal responsibility. He also had a sandwich — the “Ernie burger” — named after him. Brown’s Web site, titled “Bring Back Brown,” boasted past successes, asserting he “produced 12 years of balanced budgets while maintaining the highest bond rating for the city.”

Brown and Small ran against each other in the 2004 municipal election, when Small unseated the mayor of 12 years.

“I have always liked Harry Brown, but we needed a change,” he told a Bulletin reporter in 2004.

Staff Writer Jenny Wilkins contributed to this report.