BROMLEY, Ky. — With four candidates at the bottom, three city council positions at stake and just two votes currently separating them all, Bromley’s city council race is a definite nail-biter.
In the Kentucky river city, seven candidates are vying for six council seats for two-year terms. At the bottom of the pack, it’s a close race: David Radford has 152 votes; Gail Smith and Reagan France each have 151 votes; Dianne Wartman has 150.
Bromley Mayor Mike Denham can’t remember a race that has been that close.
“Boy, is this stressful for the council members, knowing they don’t know how they’re sitting,” Denham said.
“You just think. Oh man. How can it be that close?”
Kenton County Clerk Gabrielle Summe said the county still has some mail-in ballots to count, received by Friday.
The county also has about 30 ballots that can be “cured.” Those are absentee ballots which may have a bad signature or no signature at all.
Those voters have been notified by mail, and if they get some additional information to the county board by Nov. 9, their vote can still count.
That means if even one of those ballots are from Bromley, it could make a big difference in the council race.
Denham said it’s a part of the democratic process that may inspire voters to participate in local elections.
“I think when they see something like this, I think something is going to ring,” he said. “Some light is going to go off in their head -- ‘Oh, I could’ve made an impact, my one vote.’ It’s not often it happens, but here’s a perfect example of that.”
Summe said she's been around for two other races which have tied. At that point, it would come down a coin flip.
No matter who wins, Denham said, democracy prevails.
“I think everyone will be a good sport about it. They’ll understand. They might not like it,” he said. “I think they’re dedicated to get onto council to try to get in the city to improve some aspect of the city.”
