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GREENSBORO — T. Dianne Bellamy-Small stays put.

The city councilwoman not only survived a special recall election Tuesday spurred by a petition from residents in her southeast Greensboro district, she dominated the day. Supporters outnumbered her detractors by a 937-670 margin, meaning Bellamy-Small earned 58.3 percent of the unofficial vote total.

"What this has said is: We will not allow someone to come into our district and tell us who our representative should be," Bellamy-Small said Tuesday night after a private gathering at a restaurant on Randleman Road.

The "Recall Small" petition was started by Jonathan Wagstaff, a former Bellamy-Small supporter who lives outside District 1. Wagstaff could not be reached for comment Tuesday night.

The recall election was the first for Greensboro since 1927. The turnout, with just more than 1,600 ballots cast, was barely more than half the total who voted when Bellamy-Small defeated Luther T. Falls Jr. in the November 2005 general election.

A top county elections official said the cost of the recall vote will likely fall between $12,000 and $15,000 — or a little more than $9 per voter.

"We had fewer voters for the recall than we had signers on the petition," said George Gilbert, director of elections in Guilford County. Gilbert added later, "It's much easier to sign a piece of paper someone sticks in front of you than it is to go it and vote in an election."

The two-term councilwoman now faces a crowed primary on Oct. 9. Her challengers are James W. Carpenter Jr., Tonya Clinkscale, Charles Dayton Coffey and Falls. The top two vote-getters will compete in the general election Nov. 6.

Bellamy-Small, 55, has found herself at the center of several controversies since her re-election in 2005. Council colleagues accused her last year of leaking a report on the Greensboro Police Department to the News & Record, an allegation that Bellamy-Small has denied.

Six months later, someone uploaded the report to an Internet site, and investigators determined that the online document came from Bellamy-Small's original version. By then her colleagues on the council had taken lie-detector tests to clear themselves of involvement. Bellamy-Small refused to sit for a test.

The self-described "servant-leader" also garnered headlines for a spat with council members over office space assignments and for a traffic stop in which she complained to police leaders about a young patrol officer who gave her a warning for speeding. She said the officer was rude to her.

Bellamy-Small's critics listed the report leak and the traffic stop as examples of "irresponsible" behavior on a petition circulated this spring to force the Tuesday recall. For her part, Bellamy-Small has always insisted the allegations, notably about the report leak, had not been proven.

The petition included about 770 names calling for Bellamy-Small's recall, but Tuesday's total fell short of that. Half on the petition were white residents, even though black voters in District 1 outnumber whites.

Bellamy-Small has not said the recall was about race, though supporters stated as much Tuesday.

Marilyn Baird, 57, was in front of the Mount Zion Baptist Church Tuesday morning handing out fliers urging people to vote against the recall, which she said was racist.

If Bellamy-Small had been recalled, it would have created an environment where other black politicians might be reluctant to go against the status quo, Baird said.

"What is happening is very dangerous to our community," she said.

Howard Alexander, 67, said the recall election was uncalled for. "She's supported the black issues," he said, "and she speaks her mind."

Staff writer Amy Dominello contributed to this report.

Contact Eric J.S. Townsend at 373-7008 or etownsend@news-record.com