(BP)Messengers elected Jimmy Jackson, pastor of Whitesburg Baptist Church in Huntsville, Ala., as first vice president and Wiley Drake, pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Buena Park, Calif., as second vice president in contested elections last week.
In the election for first vice president, Jackson received 51.44 percent (1,107 votes) of the votes, edging Mark Dever (47.86 percent, 1,030 votes), pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., in the runoff.
On the first ballot, Dever received a plurality of the votes, with 29.72 percent (1,090 votes) of the vote to Jackson's 27.48 percent (1,008 votes). Convention rules state that the top two vote-getters advance to a runoff. On the first ballot Kelly J. Burris, senior pastor of Kempsville Baptist Church in Virginia Beach, Va., received 22.76 percent (835) while Keith Fordham, an evangelist from Fayetteville, Ga., received 19.79 percent (726 votes).
In the election for second vice president, Drake received 50.37 percent of the vote (2,408 votes) on the first ballot over three other nominees.