FAIRHOPE, Ala. — The magic number was 2,563.

That’s how many votes — 50 percent plus one vote — a candidate had to receive Aug. 26 to avoid a runoff and win outright the election for Place 2 on the City Council, City Clerk Lisa Hanks said Friday.

City Councilman Dan Stankoski, seeking a second four-year term, fell 141 votes shy of that number from a total of 5,124 ballots cast in the Place 2 election, according to council records.

He faces challenger Danny Corte in an Oct. 7 runoff; Corte received 2,218 votes, Stankoski, 2,422.

The remaining 484 votes were cast for Douglas Taylor, the other candidate in that three-person race. Those votes are now up for grabs when residents return to the polls less than a month from now.

Taylor gave his endorsement to Corte last week, according to a news release issued Sept. 5 by the Corte campaign.

“I am humbled and honored that Mr. Taylor would endorse me,” Corte stated in the release. “Considering how respected Doug Taylor is in the community of Fairhope, I am greatly elated and greatly appreciate the confidence that he has shown me.”

In a phone interview after the Aug. 26 election, Taylor said he planned to make an endorsement in the runoff race.

“I am, yes,” Taylor said that week. “I have to talk with both candidates about the issues. Unless they support the issues I support, I will not support them.”

Taylor said his major issue was to prohibit high-speed car chases in town by police, referring (as he did in a phone conversation prior to the general election) to such a chase that occurred several years ago, which Taylor said, resulted in a crash with injuries and death to some of the people in the vehicles.

However, during phone conversations this week, Taylor gave a different reason for why he endorsed Corte, and also why he decided to run against Stankoski at all.

His statements have raised questions about the credibility of his endorsement and the reasons he entered the race.

A member of Taylor’s family said this week that Taylor, 85, was on medication, which may have affected his understanding of the some of the facts involved. That family member asked that the content of his comments regarding those facts not be published.

Based on reporting done this week, which included interviews with Mayor Tim Kant, City Council President Bob Gentle and Stankoski, Taylor seems to have confused several news items leading to an incorrect conclusion about them, upon which he based his reason for running and his endorsement. However, during phone interviews with Taylor this week in which the facts discovered were explained to him, he reiterated that he was positive that his view was correct.

“I met with Mr. Taylor last Tuesday,” Corte said this week. “I went over to his home and had a 30-minute conversation. I called him the day after the election. Basically his deal was he wanted to run against Dan. He didn’t tell me why. He made some allusions that went in one ear and out the other. I didn’t know what he was talking about.”

After being informed of the other statements Taylor made regarding why he made the endorsement, Corte said Taylor did not give him that reason during their in-person meeting.

“He made some allusion to something,” Corte said. “But I can’t even say what that was. I was half listening and was distracted by my phone going off. It doesn’t really matter. It’s irrelevant. He got (those) votes somehow. If for whatever reason, he wants to endorse me, that’s fine.”

Corte spoke in person with reporters for two local newspapers Monday night while an executive session of the City Council was taking place, and asked whether the Sept. 5 news release had been received, and if the papers were going to write an article about the endorsement or whether he had to purchase an advertisement to get it in the paper.”

Corte also called the Fairhope Courier Tuesday to inquire again whether the story about the endorsement would be written.

“I didn’t seek the endorsement of Mr. Taylor, although I think he’s a fine gentleman,” Stankoski said. “My campaign is based upon my record of protecting and preserving Fairhope as a unique community.”

The qualifying period to run for the Fairhope city elections was July 1 through July 15. Taylor was the first person to qualify. On July 2, he qualified by signing a notarized statement regarding his intention to run for council, the city clerk said. Stankoski qualified on July 3 and Corte on July 11, Hanks said.

“Supporters of Doug Taylor can be assured that their votes for Danny Corte will result in achieving all of the goals they have previously placed in Taylor’s hands,” the Sept. 5 Corte news release stated.