It was Selma Mayor James Perkins Jr’s party and the crowd waited with palpable anticipation.

The outcome scrolled across the bottom of the big screen TV set in the middle of the stage and every time the Selma mayor’s race numbers ran across the screen, the crowd cheered with delight.

It was a great party, the only thing missing was the guest of honor.

Finally, Perkins crossed the threshold, holding tight to his wife Cynthia’s hand.

The crowd erupted as the mayor hugged as many necks as he could reach, working his way to the front.

At the podium, the Perkins waited quietly, enjoying the moment.

The voters and the unofficial numbers had spoken.

With 56 percent of the vote, Selma’s first black mayor earned another term.

“It’s hard to put these words together.

It’s hard because there are so many things that need to be said,” Perkins said. “There are so many people that need to be thanked, there are so many people that did so much.”

“To God be the glory,” Perkins said to another eruption of cheers.

Perkins’ unofficial margin of 2,461 votes was enough to lap the competition and make the absentee ballot controversy irrelevant to the mayor’s race.

With the absentee ballots Perkins unofficially claimed 4,475 votes.

The closest competitor, State Representative Yusef Salaam, finished with 2,014 unofficial votes.

Gene Hisel came in third

with 1,312 votes and Glenn King was fourth with 189 votes.

Salaam was gracious in defeat (see story at bottom).

“I don’t have any regrets,” Salaam said to his supporters. “I thank God for all of you.”

Hisel said he will still try and help the city.

“This was my first campaign. I learned a lot and got a lot of experience. I felt I ran a clean and fair campaign. I concede with honor and hope to work with Perkins in the future,” Hisel said. “Now, I plan to go back to work and be out of the political arena for the time being. I wish everybody the best. God bless our city.”

King said his time in politics is not finished.

“The people have spoken, they have made their choice,” King said. “You’ve got several other races in two more years, I’m looking at one of those races.”

The night, however, belonged to Perkins.

The mayor, who unseated 30-year incumbent Joe Smitherman four years ago, said there is more work to do.

“The four more years you have given me, I will give back to you,” Perkins said. “Selma, we are a blessed community.”

Perkins’ wife, stood beside him at the podium, bathing in the joy of the crowd. Perkins asked his wife for a few words.

“I just want to thank each and every one of you,” she said. “We will continue to do what we were called to do.”

Mayor Perkins told the crowd he didn’t want to make a long, powerful speech, but he did give the crowd what they wanted.

“The people of Selma, you have spoken, loudly, clearly and what you said made sense,” Perkins said. “You’re not interested in all the political rhetoric, you’re interested in the vision and you’re interested in the record. Selma, we have graduated. We are now in the class of educated voters.”

Perkins said Tuesday night’s vote was a validation of the work the city has done in his four years.

“You have said that you appreciate the jobs created. You said that you appreciate the improvements in our education system. You said that you appreciate the relationships that have been developed across this city, across the state and across this nation,” he said. “You said that you appreciate what has happened.”

Still the night wasn’t all grip and grin for the mayor.

A pair of city council races is headed to runoff. How those races come out may well determine Perkins ability to work with the council.

“There are a couple of council races that I am very much interested in,” Perkins said. “I will say unconditionally that for one I do have choices in that race and I will make those choices clear as we progress. I would like to talk to all the candidates that are still in the race but I do have some opinions about that.”