Two Democrats and one Republican won the three Columbus City Council at-large seats in Tuesday’s municipal election.
Democratic incumbents Tom Dell, 69, and Grace Kestler, 34, will serve another term in their at-large seats, while Republican Josh Burnett, 35, won his first term on the city council.
Dell received 3,944 votes, or 20.76%, while Burnett received 3,900 votes, or 20.53%, and Kestler received 3,810 votes, or 20.06%.
During the campaign, Dell said continuing to implement the Envision Columbus plan and major city projects and continued growth of downtown housing would be among his priorities in his upcoming term, while Kestler said housing and homeless would be a top focus and Burnett highlighted the importance of effectively communicating with residents about upcoming projects and decisions, particulary in light of the transition to a second class city.
Dell thanked his supporters and upcoming term, which will be his third on the council, will be “exciting” as the city transitions to second class status.
“I was fortunate enough that the city decided to choose me to serve for another four years,” Dell said. “It’s humbling that the city has confidence in the fact that I can serve well for the next four years. …I hope I can live up to their expectations.”
Burnett also thanked his supporters.
“I’d just like to thank everyone for coming out to vote,” Burnett said. “I know that with no state or federal election, the people who come out and vote in this election are very informed, very engaged and they’re involved in the community. I just would like to thank everyone who took the time to vote for all the candidates on the ballot this year.”
At the same time, Democrat Paul Hoffman, 60, and Republicans Alex Engelbert, 31, and Christopher Rutan, 45, came up short.
Englebert received 2,578 votes, or 13.57%, while Hoffman received 2,447 votes, or 12.88%, and Rutan received 2,315 votes, or 12.19%.
Englebert thanked his supporters and highlighted the quality of his competition.
“The candidate quality for all races across the board, but espeically the city council at-large race, was very high,” Englebert said. “It’s like that Enerst Hemmingway novel ‘The Sun Also Rises.’ The sun will come up tomorrow, and the city council will have nine quality people on it. And while I would have liked to have been part of that nine, I certainly wish them nothing but the blessings and the best of luck as they conduct the city’s business.”
Currently, there are two city council at-large seats, which are held by Dell and Kestler. But the adoption of second class status added an additional at large-seat in this year’s election.
Both parties nominated a slate of three candidates who were vying for the seats.
Each voter who participated in Tuesday’s election could pick their three preferred candidates. The at-large candidates represent the entire city.
