Bart Barber, pastor of First Baptist Church of Farmersville, Texas, was elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) on Tuesday, June 14, after winning in a runoff against Florida pastor Tom Ascol.
In the initial vote, Bart Barber received 3,258 votes (47.58%), Tom Ascol received 2,332 votes (34.06%), Frank Cox received 887 votes (12.95%), and Robin Hadaway received 340 votes (4.97%).
Since none of the candidates received at least 50% of the vote, a runoff was required to take place between Barber and Ascol. In that vote, Barber received 3,401 votes (60.87%) and Ascol received 2,172 votes (38.88%).
Barber’s win came as a victory for sexual abuse survivors and advocates, as Barber has been publicly supportive of the Sexual Abuse Task Force (SATF) and reforms in the SBC with regard to abuse prevention and reporting.