Runoff election between Casper & Ehardt will be held after Idaho Falls fails to elect a mayor
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IDAHO FALLS – None of the candidates running for the mayor of Idaho Falls received the 50 percent plus one vote required to be elected to the seat.
Incumbent Mayor Rebecca Casper received 46.54 percent (5,357 votes) of the vote Tuesday. City Councilwoman Barbara Ehardt received 26.57 percent (3,058 votes) while State Rep. Jeff Thompson received 23.17 percent (2,667 votes). Ronald Jorde received 2.27 percent (261 votes) and Kenly Osterhout received 1.46 percent (168 votes).
“We’re pretty gratified with the results. We were outspent two to one and we almost doubled the our opponent,” Mayor Casper told EastIdahoNews.com. “This gives us a chance to sharpen our message and pick up those last few votes that we need.”
Ehardt said she looks forward to the runoff election that will be held Dec. 5.
“This is what we expected. We expected that it would go to a runoff and we expected it would come down to the mayor and myself,” Ehardt told EastIdahoNews.com. “I truly believe that I have the best chance of defeating the mayor in a head-to-head battle. The people see that they have a clear choice.”
Here are the results for the Idaho Falls City Council elections:
SEAT NO. 2
Shelly Smede 51.49 % 5,349 votes
David Smith (i) 48.51 % 5,040 votes
SEAT NO. 4
Jim Francis 53.14 % 5,680 votes
Craig Lords 46.78 % 5,000 votes
SEAT NO. 6
Dan Beck 36.86 % 3,901 votes
Jim Freeman 63.14 % 6,682 votes