Baine Brooks wins Allen City Council seat

Brooks replaces Jeff McGregor, who resigned in September 2011.

Baine Brooks with supporter Barbara McNutt

The voters of Allen have decided who will occupy the Place 6 seat on the Allen City Council for the coming three years.

Baine Brooks, owner of Two Rows Classic Grill, trumped opponent Luke Hollingsworth with nearly 60 percent of the vote in the special election runoff Tuesday.

"I'm very humbled that the citizens of Allen decided to put me in this position," Brooks said of his victory shortly after results were released. "I'm very thankful. I'm ready to go to work."

Four percent of registered voters came out to polls during early voting and on Election Day, an increase compared to the 3.4 percent turnout of the regular special election in December.

"I think that with the amount of people that we had, it was just remarkable," Brooks said. "There's just a lot going on in Allen, and people want to vote. People want to have a say, and I think that's great for the city."

A special election was called in October of last year after the previous Place 6 council member, Jeff McGregor, resigned in September in the middle of his term.

The special election drew five candidates and an election was held in December. Since no single candidate received the majority of votes, a runoff was called between Brooks and Hollingsworth, the two leading candidates.

Hollingsworth said he was "ecstatic" with the voter turnout. He said he appreciates not only those who voted but those who worked to get others out to polls as well.

"It's definitely a humbling experience to know that that this many people in the community support you for one reason or another," he said. "I know that Baine will do a good job. I definitely don't think that the city or the residents lost in this. Allen still got a good candidate in Baine."

Brooks said he is thankful for the work of his supporters.

"I want to say 'thank you' to everybody for the hard work; the hard work of my campaign team, my friends, my employees, and most of all, my family," he said. "My wife and kids were very supportive."

While he has no immediate plans of running again, Hollingsworth said this race will not be the last for him.

"This is definitely not a one-time thing for me," he said. "When the time is right, we will definitely call on [our supporters'] help again."