Politics & Government

Chapman to Face Atwell, Dorfman In City Commission Runoff

Susan Chapman led all City Commission candidates with 2,705 votes.

Incumbent Commissioner Suzanne Atwell have one more election to go if she wants to defend her seat on the City Commission. 

No candidate received the majority of the vote, meaning the top three candidates are headed for a run-off election on Tuesday, May 14.

With all 18 precincts reporting, the candidates in the run-off are: 

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  • Susan Chapman — 2,705 votes (24.53 percent)
  • Suzanne Atwell — 2,606 votes (23.63 percent)
  • Richard Dorfman—2,311 votes (20.96 percent)

Atwell said she felt "very, very good" about tonight's election results.

"I think I'm in a unique position to be a centrist in this election," Atwell said.

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Now, she has to turn her efforts to May if she wants to be back on the commission, and believes that governing while campaigning will give her an advantage.

"I'm going to sit down with team and be very strategic. We're going to be knocking on doors, will be chasing absentee ballots and make sure that people know that there is another eleciton May 14," she said."Historically there's low voter turrnout in runoffs, and this is indeed a very important election." 

Chapman and Dorfman are also looking ahead, they told the Herald-Tribune:

"She said more candidate forums and door-knocking are ahead, as well as more political attacks from Dorfman supporters.

“I am not looking forward to the negativity that was exhibited in the past,” Chapman said.

...

“It's a mindblower,” Dorfman said of his chance to move forward in this race. “I've been here four years and am running against the mayor and running against someone who's been in the city for 30-some years.”

The campaign for the other three candidates ended tonight. 

The rest of the results are:

  • Linda Holland —1,528 votes (13.88 percent)
  • Kelvin Lumpkin — 1,431 votes (13.06 percent)
  • Pete Theisen— 432 votes (3.94 percent) 

The election has a 17.32 percent voter turnout, according to the Supervisor of Elections, with 6,144 ballots cast out of 35,480 registered city voters.

The top two candidates in the May runoff will then serve one four-year term on the City Commission starting May 17.

This story has been updated.


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