Incumbents dominate November 2017's city and county races
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2017 Elections By Date |
November 10, 2017
- See also: Election results, 2017
On November 7, 30 of America's 100 largest cities by population held elections. Ballotpedia also covered elections in 13 large counties across the United States. Across those 43 municipalities, there were 338 positions up for election. Incumbents ran in 252 (74.6 percent) of those races, and 19 (7.5 percent) were defeated in their re-election bids. Nine more incumbents are in races where the outcome remains too close to call or that proceeded to December runoff elections. To read our review of what happened in the four most noteworthy mayoral races, click here.
Click on the tabs below to view statistics and more information about city and county results from Tuesday night:
Cities
Across the 100 largest cities by population, 30 cities held elections for mayor, city council, and other municipal offices. This included positions such as district attorney, city treasurer, or sheriff, as well as members of city boards such as the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board or the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners.
A total of 271 city positions were up for election, and incumbents ran in 196 (72.3 percent) of those races. The outcome has been conclusively determined in 191 of those races. Seventeen city official incumbents (8.9 percent) lost their re-election bids. Two other incumbents are in races that are currently too close to call, while three more are running in December runoff elections.
Mayoral partisanship
Entering the November 2017 elections, 20 mayoral offices were set to be decided by voters. Of these, 17 were held by mayors who identify as Democrats, two by mayors who identify as Republicans, and one by a mayor who does not identify with either political party.
Partisan control of these mayoral offices did not change in any of the 19 races determined by the November 7 election. The mayoral race in Atlanta advanced to a runoff election on December 5. Neither of the candidates who advanced to the runoff are a Republican. One is a Democrat, and the other is unaffiliated with a political party.
Notable results
- In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) received 65 percent of the vote to win re-election to a second term. Additionally, incumbents ran for re-election for 41 of the 51 seats on city council. All incumbents were re-elected with the exception of District 30 Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D), who trails her Republican opponent Robert Holden by less than 1 percent based on election night results in a race that remains too close to call. If Crowley loses, it will be the only city council seat to change parties. Going into the 2017 elections, Democrats held 48 of the 51 New York City Council seats.
- In Toledo, Ohio, Mayor Paula Hicks-Hudson (D) lost her re-election bid to Lucas County Treasurer Wade Kapszukiewicz (D). Hicks-Hudson had been appointed mayor in 2015 by the Toledo City Council after her predecessor, Mike Collins, died in office. She then won a special election in November 2015 to fill the remainder of Collins' term. Hicks-Hudson received the endorsement of county and state Democratic organizations, while Kapszukiewicz opted to run for office without the party's endorsement. Kapszukiewicz won with over 55 percent of the vote.
- In Durham, North Carolina, both incumbents who ran for re-election to their seats on the city council were unsuccessful. Ward 3 Councilman Don Moffitt was defeated in the primary, finishing third among four candidates in that election on October 10, 2017. Vernetta Alston will become the new representative from Ward 3. In Ward 1, Cora Cole-McFadden was first elected in 2001, and had been re-elected three times since. However, DeDreana Freeman defeated Cole-McFadden in the general election with just over 54 percent of the vote. A political action committee associated with the People's Alliance, which describes itself as "a grassroots organization that has been advancing a progressive vision for Durham and our state for more than 40 years," had endorsed both Alston and Freeman.[1]
Statistics by city
| Municipal Elections on November 7, 2017 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| City | Seats Up | Incumbents Running | Incumbents Defeated |
| Atlanta, Georgia | 17 | 8 | 0 |
| Aurora, Colorado | 5 | 2 | 1 |
| Boise, Idaho | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Boston, Massachusetts | 14 | 11 | 0 |
| Buffalo, New York | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Charlotte, North Carolina | 12 | 6 | 1 |
| Chesapeake, Virginia | 5 | 4 | 0 |
| Cincinnati, Ohio | 10 | 7 | 0 |
| Cleveland, Ohio | 19 | 16 | 2 |
| Columbus, Ohio | 8 | 6 | 0 |
| Detroit, Michigan | 18 | 14 | 1 |
| Durham, North Carolina | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| Greensboro, North Carolina | 9 | 9 | 2 |
| Hialeah, Florida | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| Jersey City, New Jersey | 10 | 8 | 0 |
| Miami, Florida | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| Minneapolis, Minnesota | 25 | 17 | 4 |
| New York, New York | 54 | 44 | 0 |
| Norfolk, Virginia | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| Orlando, Florida | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | 5 | 4 | 0 |
| Raleigh, North Carolina | 8 | 7 | 1 |
| Seattle, Washington | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| St. Paul, Minnesota | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| St. Petersburg, Florida | 5 | 3 | 0 |
| Toledo, Ohio | 7 | 6 | 2 |
| Tucson, Arizona | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Virginia Beach, Virginia | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Wichita, Kansas | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| TOTAL | 271 | 196 | 17 |
Note: Two incumbents are in races that have not yet been called. Three incumbents advanced to runoff elections to be held in December 2017.
Counties
Ballotpedia provided coverage of 13 large counties with elections in November 2017. A total of 67 county official and special district offices were up for election, and incumbents ran in 56 (83.6 percent) of those races. Two incumbents (3.6 percent) lost their re-election bids. Races involving four incumbents running for re-election in King County, Washington, have not yet been determined because that county conducts its elections entirely by mail.
Notable results
- All 11 seats of the Erie County legislature in New York were up for election, and the defeat of District 8 incumbent Ted Morton (R) by John Bruso (D) will flip party control of that chamber. Entering the 2017 election, Republicans held a 6-5 majority on the county legislature, which will now switch to a 6-5 majority for Democrats once the new officeholders are sworn in. Morton was first elected in 2013 by winning a previously Democratic-held open seat, which gave the Republican Party outright control of the Erie County Legislature for the first time since the late 1970s. Bruso's win, with 51 percent of the vote, returns that seat and the legislature to Democratic hands.[2]
- Democrats maintained their hold over the county clerk's office and all nine members of the board of freeholders in Hudson County, New Jersey. Republican candidates only filed to run for two of those 10 positions. The situation was similar in nearby Essex County, where Democrats also kept full control of the nine-member board of freeholders. Seven Republican candidates challenged for those seats, but only one, District 4 candidate Adam Kraemer, received more than one-third of the general election votes cast.
- In Georgia, Fulton County held special elections for two seats on the county commission. These elections were necessary because of the resignation of Chairman John Eaves to run for mayor of Atlanta and the death of District 4 Commissioner Joan Garner. Both races required runoff elections on December 5, 2017, since no candidate received a majority of the general election vote.
Statistics by county
| County Elections on November 7, 2017 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| County | Seats Up | Incumbents Running | Incumbents Defeated |
| Allegheny County, Pennsylvania | 7 | 7 | 1 |
| Bronx County, New York | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Erie County, New York | 14 | 12 | 1 |
| Essex County, New Jersey | 9 | 7 | 0 |
| Fulton County, Georgia | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Guilford County, North Carolina | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| Harris County, Texas | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Hudson County, New Jersey | 10 | 7 | 0 |
| King County, Washington | 10 | 9 | 0 |
| Kings County, New York | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| New York County, New York | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Queens County, New York | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Richmond County, New York | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| TOTAL | 67 | 56 | 2 |
Note: Four incumbents are in races where the outcome has not yet been determined.
See also
Footnotes
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