A former mayor who died last year and his living challenger advanced in Edmond city elections Tuesday night.
Dan O’Neil led all candidates with about 56 percent of the primary vote. Charles Lamb, who served as Edmond’s mayor at the time of his death, finished second with 32 percent.
Rental property owner Richard Prawdzienski finished third with 11 percent and will not advance.
Lamb and O’Neil will be on the ballot again for an April 2 general election. If Lamb were to win, it would be up to the Edmond City Council to appoint a new mayor.
Results published here are drawn from the Oklahoma State Election Board’s website. The results are unofficial.
Facebook page backs Lamb for mayor despite death
Lamb died in his home late last year not long after he filed to run for a fourth term as mayor. First elected in 2011, Lamb also served on the Edmond City Council for nearly two decades.
His death left a vacuum in the race — so much so that a group of citizens started a Facebook page urging voters to cast their ballots for Lamb in Tuesday’s election even though he is dead.
“There are other qualified candidates who did not file out of respect for Mayor Lamb, and we should honor his legacy by voting for him and allowing our council to appoint a qualified person to lead our city,” the message read.
The top two candidates advance no matter what in Edmond city elections, according to the town charter.
O’Neil served as Edmond’s mayor from 2007 to 2009. He said before the election that Lamb would not have approved of the effort to swing votes for a dead man.
City council candidates eye April election
The top two candidates in each Edmond City Council primary will face off in the April 2 general election.
University of Central Oklahoma professor David Chapman led all candidates with 40 percent in the Ward 1 primary. Emergency room nurse Devyn Denton finished second with 19 percent, edging attorney Clay Booth by two percentage points.
In Ward 2, home builder Josh Moore and attorney Matt Thomas have moved on to the general election. Moore led Thomas 46.8 to 45.1 percent.
In an unusual quirk, voters across the city will vote in both council races during the general election, even if they don’t live in the candidate’s ward.
