Extremely low voter turnout, estimated roughly 15%; For June Mayoral runoff, only Baker's name will be on ballot; O'Neill must run write-in again
Kellogg ousts Thorpe
(April 10, 2002, 2:50 a.m., updated 11:50 a.m.) -- Incumbent Mayor Beverly O'Neill -- whose name was not on the ballot and ran a third term write-in campaign -- and Vice Mayor Dan Baker finished atop a field of seven candidates in the race for LB's highest elective office.
O'Neill's write-in bid captured roughly 27.5% of the vote with Baker drawing 24%. Accordingly, the two City Hall incumbents will meet in a bizarre June Mayoral runoff in which Baker's name will be the only name on the ballot and O'Neill will have to run another write-in campaign.
Vice Mayor Baker edged out LB utility tax cut leader Norm Ryan who finished third with 22.2% of the vote. The vote difference separating Baker and Ryan was just over 600 votes when all precincts were counted this morning at roughly 2:19 a.m.
[update] Roughly 3,000 provisional ballots and absentee ballots remain to be counted. These will require registration checks and other steps prior to counting. The counting is unlikely to resume until Monday April 15. Barring enormous changes in the voter patterns in these ballots, they are not expected to change the outcomes.
Termed out 7th district Council incumbent Ray Grabinski ran his second failed Mayoral bid, finishing fourth with roughly 19% of the vote. Grabinski trailed O'Neill by over 2,800 votes and trailed Baker by roughly 1,600 votes. Ryan led Grabinski by over 1,000 votes.
Vice Mayor Baker and incumbent Mayor O'Neill drew roughly 51.5% of the vote between them. Voter turnout was extremely low, estimated at just over 15% (final figures will come later today).
With all precincts reporting, the top four finishers were:
O'Neill: 9,258 (27.5%)
Baker: 8,100 (24.0%)
Ryan: 7,492 (22.2%)
Grabinski: 6,433 (19.1%)
We include below a link with more detailed results posted by the City Clerk's office.
Incumbent 3d district Councilman Frank Colonna was re-elected, drawing nearly 2/3 of the vote, beating back a challenge from LB activist and ECO-link chair Diana Mann.
Incumbent 5th district Councilwoman Jackie Kell drew nearly 70% of the vote in the race with LB consumer advocate and community activist John Donaldson.
The 7th district Council race will feature a June rematch runoff between former Councilman and first place finisher Mike Donelon and community activist Tonia Reyes-Uranga. The two dueled for the seat in 1994 with Donelon winning that contest.
NLB's new Councilman will be Val Lerch, elected in the 9th district to replace two-term Councilman Jerry Shultz. Mr. Lerch, who finished ahead of Martha Sims, will take office in July.
[update] In ELB's closely watched school board race, ELB neighborhood activist Jeannine McManigal-Ball finished first with roughly 30% of the vote and will face LB restaurant operator and caterer Jim Choura. Florence Wilson ran third to Choura.
In the race for LB Community College Board of Trustees, former LB Councilman Jeff Kellogg ousted dissident Trustee Darwin Thorpe. Mr. Thorpe had irked officialdom by opposing a bond measure on the March ballot supported by LBCC management, other incumbent Boardmembers and most of LB's establishment.
To view detailed election results posted by the LB City Clerk's office, click here.
