Lane still leads Manross, but must wait for final tally
By Curtis Riggs | November 12, 2008
County hopes to count all votes by Nov. 21
SCOTTSDALE – Mayoral challenger City Councilman Jim Lane has led incumbent Mayor Mary Manross on every vote count released since the Nov. 4 election.
The first-term councilman beat two-term mayor Manross in the Sept. 2 primary election, but failed to receive 50 percent of the vote, which would have ensured his victory. This failure to garner half of the votes cast (plus 1) resulted in Lane and six Scottsdale City Council candidates to be in a runoff in last week’s general election.
Maricopa County Election officials say Lane may have to wait another week until final vote totals are tabulated, which will put an end to electioneering in Scottsdale for the season.
Elections Department Public Information Officer Yvonne Reed said the goal is to have 50,000 yet uncounted early ballots tabulated and 125,000 provisional ballots counted by Friday, Nov. 21. Reed said the Elections Department has the goal of finalizing the vote on Nov. 21 so the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors can canvas the vote at its meeting on Nov. 24.
Manross picked up 37 votes on Lane in the latest vote tally, which was released over the weekend. Lane, however, still leads by 509 votes. He has received 45,600 of the votes cast, according to the election results. Manross has received 45,091.
City Council incumbent Ron McCullagh leads in the race for three open council seats. Council challenger Lisa Borowsky is in second with 34,241 votes and challenger Suzanne Klapp is in third place with 32,560 votes. Incumbent Betty Drake is in fourth place with 31,477 votes. Council challengers Tom Giller (25,103) and Nan Nesvig (21,906) trail the rest of the candidates by a significant margin.
Reed said the delay in getting all the ballots counted is due to a 70 to 75 percent voter turnout in Maricopa County.