1. Following recount, Boston City Council election decided by a single vote
2. Local Roundup
3. Top-Two Primaries measure is the third amendment to be certified for Florida's 2020 ballot

Following recount, Boston City Council election decided by a single vote

As elections addicts, we enjoy exploring the intrigue of races decided by a small margin. Each election cycle, hundreds of races we cover come down to a handful of votes. One race of this type recently concluded in Boston. Julia Mejia defeated Alejandra St. Guillen by a single vote to win an at-large seat on Boston’s city council, according to a recount concluded Monday. The final tally was 22,492 votes for Mejia and 22,491 for St. Guillen. As of February 1, there were 415,103 registered voters in the city of Boston.

All four at-large seats were up for nonpartisan election this November, and voters could select up to four candidates. Incumbents Michael Flaherty, Annissa Essaibi George, and Michelle Wu were re-elected, while incumbent Althea Garrison was defeated. Boston’s other nine city council seats were also up for by-district election.

This year, 112 elections within Ballotpedia’s coverage scope were decided by 10 or fewer votes. Of those, 14 were decided by a single vote. Other recent elections decided by narrow margins include:

• In the 2017 election for Virginia House of Delegates District 94, incumbent David Yancey (R) and challenger Shelly Simonds (D) each received exactly 11,608 votes. Under Virginia law, the two drew lots to determine a winner; Yancey won the drawing. Had Simonds won, partisan control of the House would have been evenly split.

• In the 2018 election for Alaska House of Representatives District 1, Bart LeBon (R) defeated Kathryn Dodge (D) by a single vote, 2,663-2,662.

• In Florida’s 2018 election for Agriculture Commissioner, Nikki Fried (D) defeated Matt Caldwell (R) by 6,753 votes out of 8,059,155 cast (a 0.08% margin). That year, Florida also had the smallest margins of victory nationwide in any U.S. Senate (0.12%) and gubernatorial (0.39%) races.

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Local Roundup 

Here’s our weekly roundup of local news:

Runoff election for open seats on Houston ISD school board this Saturday against backdrop of state takeover

Runoff elections for two open seats on the Houston Independent School District Board will take place Saturday. The runoffs are taking place because no candidate won a majority of the vote in the November 5 general election. Each runoff will be contested by the top two finishers in November—Katherine Blueford-Daniels and John Gibbs Sr. in District II and Patricia Allen and Matthew Barnes in District IV. 

On November 6, the day after the general election, Texas Commissioner of Education Mike Morath notified the district of his decision to appoint a board of managers to replace the elected school board. Morath cited a Texas Education Agency investigation into the board and a record of poor academic performance at one of the district’s high schools. A state-appointed board would take over governance of the district with the elected board functioning as non-voting members. As of December 6, each of the runoff candidates other than Blueford-Daniels had either applied or said they would apply for a spot on the state-appointed board. During the 2018-2019 school year, the Houston ISD had just under 210,000 students enrolled and an annual budget of $2.04 billion.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and businessman Tony Buzbee face off in Saturday runoff

Houston’s mayoral runoff election between incumbent Sylvester Turner and former Texas A&M regent Tony Buzbee takes place Saturday. In the November general election, Turner won 46.9% of the vote to Buzbee’s 28.4%. 

Turner says that during his first term he balanced Houston’s budget, led the recovery from Hurricane Harvey, and strengthened the city economy. Buzbee says Houston’s city government is marked by corruption and inefficiency and has called for independent financial audits and zero-based budgeting. As of December 6, Buzbee had raised $10.3 million to Turner’s $4.6 million. All of Buzbee’s $10.3 million is self-funded; he has not accepted any campaign contributions.

Houston is the fourth-largest city in the U.S. and the largest in Texas. The city has a strong mayor-council system, where the mayor acts as the city’s chief executive and has authority over municipal departments and day-to-day governance. The mayor is also a presiding member of the city council.

Oklahoma City voters approve sales tax measure Tuesday 

Oklahoma City voters approved a 1% sales tax measure by 71.7% to 28.3% in a special election Tuesday. The tax revenue was earmarked to fund the city’s Metropolitan Area Projects (MAPS) 4 program of proposed city infrastructure and facility projects.  

The MAPS 4 tax will expire in eight years and is expected to raise an estimated $978 million over that time. The three largest recipients of the tax proceeds will be city parks ($140 million), youth centers ($110 million), and the Chesapeake Energy Arena and related facilities ($115 million). The tax will go into effect in April 2020, when the current 1% transportation sales tax expires. If voters had not approved the measure, Oklahoma City's overall sales tax would have decreased to 7.625%.

Voters could decide next year on another 0.125% sales tax measure to fund city park maintenance and operations. Former City Council Member Ed Shadid filed petitions for a citizen initiative proposing the measure on Dec. 2. If city officials verify the petitions have the 6,499 valid signatures needed to qualify for the ballot, voters could decide the initiative during the state’s presidential primary on March 3 or state legislative primaries June 30. The tax is expected to generate about $15 million per year.

Top-Two Primaries measure is the third amendment to be certified for Florida's 2020 ballot

A measure certified for Florida’s 2020 ballot Friday would make it the third state to adopt top-two primaries for statewide elections. All Voters Vote, Inc. submitted 769,545 valid signatures, meeting the 766,200 signature requirement to qualify. The measure would establish top-two open primaries for state legislators, the governor, and other state offices in Florida. It would not impact primaries for federal office.

Currently, Florida holds closed primaries, meaning a voter must be registered with a political party to vote in that party's primary election. Under the measure, all candidates would be placed on one ballot regardless of political affiliation and the top two candidates with the most votes would advance to the general election. The primary would be open to all voters, regardless of political affiliation.

If approved by 60% of voters at the 2020 general election, the measure would become effective on January 1, 2024. In a poll conducted in October by St. Pete Polls, 48% of registered voters said they opposed the measure, 38% said they supported it, and 14% were unsure. Both the Democratic and the Republican parties of Florida filed briefs supporting a challenge to the amendment currently before the state Supreme Court. Among the amendment’s endorsers are the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

In 2004, Washington became the first state to adopt a top-two primary system for congressional and state-level elections. California followed suit in 2010. In Nebraska, a top-two primary system is used for state legislative elections. Twenty-one states conduct open primaries for congressional and state-level offices. In Alaska, the law stipulates that political parties can determine for themselves who may participate in their primary elections.

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