Terry Hartwick defeated Tracy Steele on Tuesday night in North Little Rock’s hotly contested mayoral runoff, although Steele’s campaign said it wasn’t ready to concede victory yet.
With all precincts reporting, unofficial results are:
Hartwick 5,417
Steele 4,737
Around 9:30 p.m. Hartwick and his campaign team claimed they had won the runoff, stating Hartwick had close to a 700-vote lead.
“First off, I want to congratulate Tracy and his people on their campaign and now I got 5,400 people to say thank you to,” Hartwick said. “I am honored to be mayor again.”
Michelle Whitlock, a spokesperson for Steele’s campaign, said the race was too close to call Tuesday night.
“Out of respect for the voters, Mr. Steele will not be issuing any statements until all absentee and provisional ballots have been counted,” Whitlock said.
Hartwick succeeds Mayor Joe Smith, who chose not to run for re-election and will leave office in January after two terms.