For the first time in the history of our city, Boise has a runoff election on its hands. That's right, ANOTHER election to decide who the next Mayor of Boise is going to be.

After a busy election night across the Treasure Valley last night, results began coming in around 10:00 p.m. I was at home watching the numbers come in from the comfort of my couch while something looked crazy different than what I have grown used to: Mayor Dave Bieter...TRAILING in votes? The first numbers came in at 1 percent of votes counted and Bieter was behind challenger Lauren Mclean. From start to finish of the vote count, incumbent, Dave Bieter, was never NOT trailing. The field was crowded, with seven total candidates garnering votes. Bieter and Mclean were the clear first and second place candidates, by a landslide.

In the City of Boise, in order to win the Mayoral Race, the simply majority isn't enough. If this were the case, Lauren Mclean would be our clear winner. Election rules state that the winning candidate must have 50% +1 votes in order to win. Because of the crowded field, no one candidate garnered 50% of the votes, meaning that the top two are forced to a runoff.

A runoff is, in other words, ANOTHER election. If you voted, you'll need to vote again. If you didn't vote-- vote this time around! Typically, runoffs see smaller voter turnouts-- this is OUR CITY, Boise! Get out there and vote!

More polling information will be released soon, but for now, know that the runoff voting date will be on December 3rd.

 

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