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HIGH POINT - Voters in High Point chose some newcomers in three contested races for the City Council.

Ward 2 featured the most hotly contested race, with five candidates vying for the seat. Business owner Foster Douglas led the pack with 30 percent of the vote, according to unofficial results.

Voter Dannette Harris, 37, said the economy was the most important issue in the election. She has a job, but many in Ward 2 have lost theirs as the city's factories moved overseas.

"We're ready to go to work," said Harris, who cast her vote at Morehead Recreation Center on Price Street. "We want to work."

The Ward 2 race became a free-for-all when four-term City Councilman Ron Wilkins announced that heart problems would keep him from running again.

Julius Clark took 19 percent of the vote in Ward 2; Tony Davis, 19 percent; Pride D. Grimm Jr., 17 percent; and Jerry Mingo, 8 percent. Fitzgerald Waller captured 6 percent despite dropping out of the race in late September.

In the city's booming Ward 6, at-large councilman John Faircloth garnered 64 percent of the vote, beating Jim Corey, who received 36 percent. Faircloth will replace Lisa Stahlmann, who decided not to run again.

A former High Point police chief, Faircloth says he'll concentrate on integrating new businesses and residents in North High Point into the core city.

"I'm looking forward to working a little closer with the ward residents than I did as an at-large councilman," Faircloth said Tuesday night. "I don't feel it diminishes my responsibility to the city as a whole, but it's a new challenge."

Two at-large City Council seats were up for grabs. One went to an incumbent and one to a newcomer.

Sitting at-large Councilman Latimer Alexander retained his seat with 30 percent of the vote. Retired nurse Mary Lou Andrews Blakeney took the other with 30 percent. Michael J. Cox garnered 20 percent; John Wesley Sneed, 17 percent.

Alexander said he will continue to concentrate on building High Point's infrastructure, which he sees as essential for growth.

Blakeney, 64, said she wants to be an advocate for the city's elderly.

Contact Joe Killian at 833-4422, Ext. 228, or joe.killian@news-record.com