Gayle Williams-Byers wins recount for South Euclid judgeship

We missed the news at the time and maybe you did as well. But good news is good news even when it arrives late. A Board of Elections recount brought Gayle Williams-Byers from second place on election night to winner of the South Euclid Municipal Court judgeship.

Williams was declared the winner Nov. 29 when the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections announced its official vote totals. 

Williams-Byers trailed City Prosecutor Mary Riley Casa by a 2,519-to-2, 514 vote count as election night ended. On Nov. 29, the board of elections had the final count as 2,573 for Riley Casa (34.46 percent), and 2,624 for Williams-Byers (35.15 percent). The 51-vote difference is greater than .5-percent of the total votes cast in the election and thus does not trigger an automatic recount.

Williams-Byers, 37, has been an assistant Cuyahoga County prosecutor for the past nine years, where she oversees grand jury indictment process. 

A graduate of Shaw High School in East Cleveland, Williams-Byers has three degrees from Case Western Reserve University, including her law degree and a master’s degree in nonprofit organizations.

She and her husband, Gregory, are the parents of a 12-year-old son. Her father, Rev. Dr. Albert E. Williams, is pastor of Beulah Baptist Church in Cleveland.

Williams previously ran for domestic relations judge in the Democratic primary last year.