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Ashland candidates hesitate to call tight races By Sara Murphy ASHLAND � Candidates in a handful of city races remained reluctant to claim victory or concede defeat as preliminary election results continued to trickle in Wednesday. After watching the presidential vote in Florida swap twice Tuesday evening, the candidates said they were hesitant to call the local races prematurely. "We�ll see," said Alan DeBoer, who held a strong early lead in the Ashland mayoral race. "We�re all still remembering Florida." As of 5:30 p.m., the Jackson County Elections Office reported tallying 6,179 votes in Ashland. Countywide, 57 percent of the ballots had been counted Wednesday; it was still unknown how many Ashland residents had turned in their ballots. DeBoer, an Ashland School Board member and auto dealership owner, had received about 50.7 percent (2,993) of votes cast in the five-way mayoral race. The next closest candidate, City Councilwoman Carole Wheeldon, had received about 29.1 percent (1,721) of the vote. Gary Smith, an Albertson�s checker, remained in third place with about 12.3 percent (726). John Freedom, a retired Army major, had gathered 4.7 percent (278). Personal and career coach Betty Austin Hutto followed with about 2.8 percent (167). Wheeldon, seemingly less optimistic Wednesday than she had been on election night, said she was waiting for more results before making any conclusions about who will be the city�s next mayor. "I�m looking forward to seeing what the balance of the vote is," she said. "I�d just like to see what that looks like." Two council seat elections continued to run very close on Wednesday. In the bid for seat No. 3, land use attorney Chris Hearn�s lead slipped to less than 5 percent over opponent Cate Hartzell, a nonprofit program director. "It�s kind of too close to call," said Hearn, who held 52.3 percent (2,875) of the vote to Hartzell�s 47.5 percent (2,614). "I don�t want to jump the gun." Hartzell, who lost a last-minute write-in campaign to City Councilman Cameron Hanson in 1998, said she wasn�t ready to give up the current race without seeing more results. "I guess I�d just like to hold off and watch until we�ve gotten closer to the final," she said. In the bid for council seat No. 5, John Morrison held about a 6 percent lead over Mike Gibbs. Morrison, community development program director for the Rogue Valley Council of Governments, had received about 52.9 percent (2,545) to Gibbs� 46.7 percent (2,248). Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.