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Talent mayor race still up in the air By Tony Boom Updated: Nov 15, 2022 06:49 PM A A Incumbent Darby Ayers-Flood leads Mark Anderson by 17 votes in the race for mayor of Talent. It’s a week past election day, and Talent voters still don’t know for certain who their next mayor will be, though it’s looking better for the incumbent than the challenger. Talent Mayor Darby Ayers-Flood had a 27-vote margin over challenger Mark Anderson in results updated Tuesday. Ayers-Flood issued a statement when asked for a comment Tuesday. Anderson said that, on the advice of his team, he wouldn’t concede until the results are certified. “Like the four councilors who were reelected, I ran to do what I could to keep our community affordable and diverse, bring fire survivors home, support small business, prevent and prepare for future emergencies and make Talent a place where everyone feels welcome,” Ayers-Flood wrote in a prepared statement. Results Tuesday showed Ayers-Flood with 1,230 votes, 50.33%, and Anderson with 1,203 votes, 49.22%. The current margin showed up in the Nov. 10 results release and hasn’t changed since. On election eve Anderson had a 7-vote lead in results reported at 8 p.m. with 1,044 votes to 1,037 for Ayers Flood, Anderson’s lead increased to 17 votes in 11 p.m. results. A Nov. 9, 2 a.m. report showed Ayers-Flood had moved ahead with 1,222 votes to 1,199 for Anderson. The contest pitted a two-term incumbent mayor against a challenger who had not served in city government. Anderson became interested in running after a proposal was made for a new Talent Urban Renewal District, which Ayers-Flood supported. If the district had formed it would have cut funding for city police and fire services from Jackson County Fire District 5. The City Council delayed action on the new district, and it is scheduled to go to a vote of the people in May 2023. The mayoral race likely will not go to an automatic recount. Oregon requires an automatic recount in the event of a tie or when the margin between the winning candidate and the next closest candidate is less than or equal to 0.2% of the total vote for both candidates. For the Talent race, results would need to see the candidates within five votes of each other. Ayers-Flood and the four incumbent councilors formed a coalition that stressed their teamwork in restoring Talent after the Almeda Fire. Anderson and four challengers to the councilors also formed a coalition. None of the challengers won election. The race for the two-year, Position 4 council seat was the only council contest within 100 votes. On Tuesday incumbent Nicole Greider had 1,202 tallies, 51.17%, while challenger Philip (Jack) Lanni had garnered 1,142 votes, 48.62% Ayers-Flood lost a close election in her first run for mayor in 2010 to Bill Cecil with 847 votes, 47.83%, to 909, 51.33%. But in 2014 she came back to beat Cecil with 1,243 tallies, 55.62%, to 975, 43.62%. In 2018 she won reelection with 2,003 votes, 66.71%, to 995, 33.09%, for opponent Ken Baker. An Election Results Reporting Schedule issued by the Jackson County Clerk said there would be updates listed on the Oregon Secretary of State’s website at 6 p.m. Nov. 18, Nov. 25 and Dec. 2. Certification of the election is due to the Secretary of State by Monday, Dec. 5, with official results reporting scheduled for 6 p.m. Only one other race in the county has a close margin. In Jacksonville, candidate Talon Reed leads Megan Kimball for the third available seat on the City Council in results issued Tuesday. Reed had 788 votes to 775 for Kimball. Incumbents Ken Gregg and Andy Hellenthal garnered the most votes in the Jacksonville contest where the top three take seats. There were six candidates in the race for four-year terms. Election results can be viewed online at oregonvotes.gov or jacksoncountyor.org/clerk/Elections/Elections-Office . Reach Ashland freelance writer Tony Boom at [email protected].