Early results in council election show tight race
Knight, McClendon, Watts top vote-getters among the 6 candidates
Early results from Tuesday’s general election in Yuma show a very tight race with no candidate definitely out of the running yet. Six candidates were vying for three seats on the city council.
When polls closed at 7 p.m., the count indicated 6,549 ballots had been cast, including early ballots that had been processed and poll results from all three voting centers.
As of 8:50 p.m. Tuesday, about 1,013 ballots remained to be counted with no other totals to be released that night.
Spokesman Dave Nash explained the ballots that remained to be counted may not entirely be city election ballots, as some voters may have dropped off their mail-in ballots for Somerton’s election at Yuma voting centers.
Yuma County election workers will convene again at 9 a.m. Thursday to count the remaining ballots. The city hopes to receive final totals as soon as late Thursday afternoon.
“Late early” and provisional ballots tend to be counted later in the week, “so it’s hard to say for sure who’s been elected,” Nash said. “In some cases a few dozen votes separate people who are still in the running and people who would be eliminated.”
However, as of Tuesday night, Deputy Mayor Gary Knight, the only incumbent, was the leading votegetter among the six candidates. He received 3,219 votes, or 49 percent of the ballots.
Former council member Leslie McClendon was also doing well with 2,881 votes,
or 44 percent.
“Karen Watts, Greg Counts, Ken Rosevear are all very much in it,” Nash said. “The only person who might have a little extra ground to make up would be Kristina McNair. No one is out of it with the number of votes that are yet to be counted so far.”
Watts, a nurse practitioner and business owner, received 2,816 votes, or 43 percent; Counts, retired Yuma police officer, netted 2,790 votes, or 43 percent; Rosevear, retired executive director of the Yuma County Chamber of Commerce, got 2,756 votes, or 42 percent; and Rojas-McNair, a manager at Yuma Regional Medical Center, received 2,404 votes, or 37 percent.
Percentages reflect the total number of ballots cast, rather than a percentage of the total number of votes cast, because council seats are considered at-large and each ballot may contain up to three votes.
Votes will become final and official once canvassed by the council. Those elected to these positions would each serve a four-year term beginning Jan. 1 and ending Dec. 31, 2021.
“I’m very happy with the results so far. It’s very comforting to know that the voters have approved of what I’ve been doing and the way the city’s moving forward,” Knight told the Yuma Sun at City Hall after the results were released. “I think that was the message that I tried to get out there, that we have moved forward with the things we said we would do with the last election and now we need to tackle some other issues, mainly public safety and our roads, roll up our sleeves and get it done. I’m looking forward to it.”
Counts, the only other candidate at City Hall Tuesday night, declined to comment other than to point out: “It’s a real nail-biter!”
By email, Watts said she wanted to “thank all of my supporters and everyone who worked hard on this campaign. Every vote needs to be counted, but we think this election will go our way. This entire experience has been amazing no matter how this turns out. Yuma will be served well by the new members to the council.”
Rosevear also offered a comment by email: “Not looking good for Ken at this point ... Congratulations to the three winners!”
Also via email, McNair expressed her appreciation to supporters. “I’d like to thank my husband and children for their support during this election season and always. I’d also like to thank my supporters and every person who voted. Although the numbers are preliminary at this point, this is not the result I was hoping for. Regardless of the final outcome, I wish the very best for the newly elected council members and our city.”
Voters reelected Mayor Doug Nicholls and Presiding Municipal Judge James Coil, both of whom ran unopposed, in the Aug. 29 primary election.
Councilmen William Craft and Gary Wright, both elected to the council in 2013, did not seek reelection. Craft said he plans to move to the East Coast to be closer to his grandchildren. Wright said he pledged to serve only one term when running for office.