Matt Peacock held off Russell Rice to win the Ward 2 seat on the Norman City Council, prevailing by just 62 votes out of 1,978 cast in today’s runoff election.
Peacock was behind for much of the early vote counting before the last two precincts were tallied to push him to victory. He picked up 51.57 percent of the vote compared to 48.43 percent for Rice. About 9,600 registered voters live in Ward 2, according to the Norman Transcript, meaning about 20.6 percent of the ward’s voters cast ballots in what became a slightly contentious race, at least on social media.
Peacock has been a veteran of the Norman City Council, currently representing Ward 8. Thanks to redistricting, he was moved to Ward 2 following the decennial census. Ward 2 covers much of southwest Norman. Its boundary stretches from Robinson Street to Imhoff Road on the south and from Interstate Drive to Berry Road. Lauren Schueler currently holds the Ward 2 seat, but she opted not to run for re-election.
Housing issues and a proposed entertainment district took center stage in the race, which featured a slew of mailers and competing criticism posted in the Ward 2 Facebook group.
A proposed new basketball arena in Norman became one of the race’s most contentious issues, with Rice opposing public financing for the potential $220 million project that would be part of a $1 billion University North Park entertainment district. Peacock’s campaign left mailers on residents’ doors discussing the arena topic late in the race.
All election results are unofficial until they are certified by the Oklahoma State Election Board.
Brockman wins Norman school board race
In Norman’s other election for the night, Dawn Brockman defeated Scott Christian for the Norman Public Schools Board Office 4 seat. Brockman picked up 54.22 percent to 45.78 for Christian.
Brockman is the dean of students and a Latin instructor at the University of Sciences and Arts of Oklahoma in Chickasha. Previously, she taught in the Norman Public Schools system for 20 years. Brockman ran on retaining more teachers and fostering a better relationship between Norman Public Schools and the community.
Christian is a Prosperity Bank vice president and operates a fitness boot camp.
(Correction: This article was updated at 10:35 a.m. Wednesday, April 3, to correct reference to Brockman’s job title at USAO.)
