By CHARLES RICHARDS
eParisExtra.com
Dr. AJ Hashmi, who came to Paris in 2006 and revitalized cardiology at Paris Regional Medical Center, will now be given the opportunity to see if he can influence similar results for the City of Paris.
Dr. AJ Hashmi
The 44-year-old head of cardiology for the hospital won election to the Paris City Council on Saturday, capping a four-month campaign by winning 59 percent of the vote in defeating incumbent Rhonda Rogers 416-289 for the District 7 seat on the council.
“How do I feel? Fantastic!” Hashmi said shortly after the results were released. “ I really am very humbled, and I look forward to working for the community. I will try my best to do a good job.”
The Paris City Council will meet in a brief, special session Tuesday night to canvass the votes.
Hashmi will be sworn in at the council’s next regular meeting – Monday, June 27. That’s the meeting that the council will also select from among itself a mayor and mayor pro-tem.
Shortly after 7 p.m. Saturday, elections administrator Russ Tower released the early returns – Hashmi leading the June 6-14 early vote by 279 (58.37 percent) to 199 (41.63 percent). There were also 22 mail-in votes, which went to Rogers 12-10.
So large was Hashmi’s lead in the early voting period that Rogers would have needed to capture 70 percent of the vote on Saturday to overtake him.
Hashmi will join two other newcomers on the council – Dr. Richard Grossnickle of District 4 and Matt Frierson of District 5. They will serve a two-year term.
Holdover members of the council are Joe McCarthy of District 1, Jason Rogers of District 2, John Wright of District 3 and Edwin Pickle of District 6.
Hashmi ran on a campaign of empowering the people and involving them more in city government. Among his campaign promises were that he would open an office for citizens to come with their problems, complaints and suggestions.
Hashmi recently purchased the Pavilion III medical offices on the north campus of Paris Regional Medical Center, and he set aside 1,000 square feet on the eastern portion of the building for a district office – not solely for District 7 constituents but for anyone from the city’s six other council districts as well, utilizing volunteers from across the city.
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| District 7, City Council | May 14 Primary | June 18 Runoff |
| Election | Election | |
| Day 1, Early Vote | 41 | 108 |
| Day 2, Early Vote | 78 | 96 |
| Day 3, Early Vote | 47 | 72 |
| Day 4, Early Vote | 59 | 55 |
| Day 5, Early Vote | 58 | 52 |
| Day 6, Early Vote | 42 | 36 |
| Day 7, Early Vote | 54 | 59 |
| Semitotal | 379 | 478 |
| Mail-In, Early Vote | 24 | 22 |
| Early Vote Total | 403 | 500 |
| 7 a.m.-9:30 a.m. | 33 | |
| 9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. | 27 | |
| 10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. | 26 | |
| 11:30 a.m.-Noon | 11 | |
| Noon – 1:30 p.m. | 32 | |
| 1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. | 16 | |
| 2:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. | 19 | |
| 3:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. | 21 | |
| 5:30 p.m. – 6:15 p.m. | 10 | |
| 6:15 p.m. – 7 p.m. | 10 | |
| Election Day | 289 | 205 |
| Total | 692 | 705 |
| PARIS CITY COUNCIL | Early | Mail-in | Saturday | TOTAL | |||||||
| DISTRICT 7 | Vote | Vote | Vote | VOTE | |||||||
| AJ Hashmi | 279 | 10 | 127 | 416 | 59.0% | ||||||
| Rhonda Rogers | 199 | 12 | 78 | 289 | 41.0% | ||||||
| PARIS CITY COUNCIL | Early | Mail-in | Saturday | TOTAL | |||||||
| DISTRICT 7 | Vote | Vote | Vote | VOTE | |||||||
| AJ Hashmi | 279 | 10 | 0 | 289 | 57.8% | ||||||
| Rhonda Rogers | 199 | 12 | 0 | 211 | 42.2% |
By CHARLES RICHARDS
eParisExtra.com
In the final hour of voting Saturday, the voter turnout for the runoff election between Dr. AJ Hashmi and Rhonda Rogers surpassed the vote total for the District 7 primary race on May 14.
By 6:15 p.m. Saturday, 195 people had voted, sending the election total to 795. That compares to 793 people who voted in May when Hashmi led with 283 votes (41.2 percent) to 242 (35.2 percent) for Rogers and 162 (23.6 percent) for Kenneth Kohls.
Forty-five minutes remained before the polls were to close at 7 p.m.
The early vote results will be released shortly after 7 p.m., followed by the complete results about 30 minutes later.
| District 7, City Council | May 14 Primary | June 18 Runoff |
| Election | Election | |
| Day 1, Early Vote | 41 | 108 |
| Day 2, Early Vote | 78 | 96 |
| Day 3, Early Vote | 47 | 72 |
| Day 4, Early Vote | 59 | 55 |
| Day 5, Early Vote | 58 | 52 |
| Day 6, Early Vote | 42 | 36 |
| Day 7, Early Vote | 54 | 59 |
| Semitotal | 379 | 478 |
| Mail-In, Early Vote | 24 | 22 |
| Early Vote Total | 403 | 500 |
| 7 a.m.-9:30 a.m. | 33 | |
| 9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. | 27 | |
| 10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. | 26 | |
| 11:30 a.m.-Noon | 11 | |
| Noon – 1:30 p.m. | 32 | |
| 1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. | 16 | |
| 2:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. | 19 | |
| 3:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. | 21 | |
| 5:30 p.m. – 6:15 p.m. | 10 | |
| 6:15 p.m. – 7 p.m. | ||
| Election Day | 289 | 195 |
| Total | 692 | 695 |
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