Smith wins new term as Mayor – City Council candidates face run-off
With all but a handful of ballots counted, election results show incumbent Mayor Anthony Smith winning a second term in office, and at least four of the City Council candidates headed to a run-off election in May.
Smith captured 1287 out of 2183 votes cast, or 58.96%, a comfortable margin over the 50.1% needed to win outright. Ken Hunt finished second with 29.13% of the vote and Leon Potter came in third with 11.13%.
“This campaign has taught me valuable lessons, introduced me to a whole world of new people, and really inspired me to stay involved in our city governance,” said Hunt. ”I hope that you will all continue to take an active and vocal role in our town as well. Maricopa is a terrific city with an exciting future, but it will only rise to the level that we as citizens seek if we all do our part to help guide and direct it.”
None of the eight candidates for City Council gained enough votes to secure a seat this round, and the top vote-getters will now move on to the May 18th general election.
Incumbents Edward Farrell and Brent Murphree led the pack with Farrell gaining about 48.1% of the vote and Murphree 33.7%. Alan Marchione was a close third with 32.1%. Julia Romero-Gusse and Bridger Kimball placed fourth and fifth with 30.2% and 26.9% respectively.
With around 100 provisional and early ballots yet to be counted, there is a slim chance that Farrell could pass the threshold to avoid the run-off. Regardless, Murphree, Marchione, Romero-Gusse, and Kimball will move on to the May poll. If Farrell fails to secure a seat, he will join them along with either Dallas Paulsen or Peggy Chapados who are separated by only nine votes at the present time.
Also on the ballot was the Maricopa Unified School District’s budget override request. At last count, the override was losing by a margin of 83 votes, although the remaining uncounted ballots are giving supporters hope that they can pull victory from the jaws of defeat.
Click here to view the results of the Mayoral and Council election.
Click here to view the results of the MUSD budget override election.
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