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April 8, 2009

Douglas almost sweeps precincts

James Coburn

EDMOND — Mayor-elect Patrice Douglas won all but six of Edmond’s 29 precincts Tuesday with a 57.91 percent margin to defeat incumbent Mayor Dan O’Neil, who drew 42.09 percent of votes, according to the Oklahoma County Election Board. Douglas also won the in-person and mail-in absentee ballots.

“I’m going to start working for Edmond today. That’s what I’m doing,” Douglas said before meeting with Oklahoma first lady Kim Henry in Oklahoma City. “We need to unify not only the voices inside our community but the voices that can help our community. We need to meet with state leaders, with national leaders and with our local voices.”

As friends, Douglas said she and Henry are able to reach across party lines to do what’s best for Oklahoma. Henry had invited Douglas to discuss helping Edmond progress as a community, Douglas said.

Douglas attributes her win to Edmond residents wanting to set new priorities in city government that are based on what the city needs.

Precinct 338 in the area of Fairview Baptist Church at 1230 N. Sooner Road gave Douglas her largest concentration of precinct votes with 415 votes to O’Neil’s 233 votes, according to precinct data provided Wednesday by the Oklahoma County Election Board.

Fourteen percent of Edmond voters went to the polls with 4,513 votes in favor of Douglas and 3,280 votes cast for O’Neil. In comparison, 16 percent of the eligible voters participated in the 2007 mayoral election when O’Neil bested challenger Wayne Pettigrew. About 9 percent voted in 2005 when then-Mayor Saundra Naifeh defeated local retailer Julie Fost.

O’Neil’s strength was evident in areas extending from 33rd Street and Bryant north to Ayers Drive. Voters who cast ballots at LifeChurch on South Second Street, east of Interstate 35, gave O’Neil a comfortable margin with 204 votes in his favor in comparison to Douglas’ 126 votes there. He also won the majority of voters who cast ballots at Bradford Village Retirement Community on Enz Drive.

“I’m going to work hard,” Douglas said. “I’m going to move Edmond forward to the best of my ability and the best I know how.”

Douglas will be sworn into office May 4 at City Council Chambers, 20 S. Littler. A tentative time for the ceremony is set for 6 p.m. with a reception following at the Downtown Community Center, 28 E. Main St.



jcoburn@edmondsun.com | 341-2121, ext. 114

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