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East Cleveland votes to recall Mayor Gary Norton Jr., City Council President Thomas Wheeler

Posted at 9:54 PM, Dec 06, 2016
and last updated 2016-12-07 09:31:19-05

In a special election held Tuesday, East Cleveland voted to recall Mayor Gary Norton Jr. and Council President Thomas Wheeler. 

The results are still unofficial as of Tuesday night. According to the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, the votes in favor of recalling Norton were 548-528. The votes to recall Wheeler were 229-211. 

Tuesday's election marked the third time Wheeler has been up for recall. Once in December of 2015 and again in June. This is the first time voters have asked for a recall of Norton since he was located.

If Norton is officially voted out of office,  the city council's vice president, Brandon King, is the next person in line to take over as the city's mayor, according to Ohio law. 

The recalled vote  comes as both Wheeler and Norton have worked to get the city of East Cleveland out of a major financial crisis. 

Earlier this year, Norton said the only way for the cash-strapped city to be saved was to merge with Cleveland and file for bankruptcy.