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Runoff for Little Elm set for June 23 (Updated)
By Emily Hill, ehill@starlocalnews.com
With the total ballots released by Denton County, a runoff election will be held for all four positions on the Little Elm Town Council on June 23. Election results were made official at the last town council meeting when they were canvassed, or certified.
The Mayoral runoff will be between David Hillock, who received a total of 44 percent of the returns (448 votes), and incumbent Charles Platt, who received 38 percent (381).
"Honestly, I think we're in pretty good shape with the way it turned out," Hillock said. "The overall effort to remove the current mayor in a single battle, ultimately it feels like long-term the victory is on our side."
"We're enjoying the fact we survived the first round," Hillock said.
Platt said he wanted to thank all of the residents of Little Elm for coming out and showing support for his re-election.
"Receiving 38 percent of the vote with three candidates is very good," Platt said. "In every election you expect a certain amount of votes to go to the other candidates and our number was spot-on with what my opponents received."
Platt said his team is very excited about the weeks ahead and is ready for the long hours.
"I am confident that we will be victorious on June 23 and keep Little Elm on the fast track to success that is currently under my guidance," Platt said.
For District 5, the final total of votes released by Denton County included a difference of only one vote between the top two candidates. Katie Gipson, who received 31 percent of the returns (62), and Dan Jaworski, who received 31 percent (61), will run against each other for the vacant seat on council.
"I am so incredibly grateful and humbled by my supporters and people having faith in me and support me," Gipson said. "[The race] was close."
Gipson said she will take a few days off before starting her campaign back up again. She said the results are still overwhelming because she did not see it coming.
"We'll hit the ground again, knocking on doors and telling our supporters we need them again, and getting them excited to get out and vote," Gipson said.
Jaworski, who stayed home to watch the election ticker on NBC 5, took Mother's Day to celebrate for his wife, as well as reevaluated his game plan.
"We expected a runoff, so we already have a game plan started," Jaworski said. "Those that voted for me, I'm thankful for their support and I hope we can get them out and vote again."
Jaworski is pleased with the campaigns among candidates, describing it as a "spirited and clean campaign." His only frustration was electronic mishaps with voting equipment as some voters in his district were turned away at the polls, which he said affected both him and Gipson. Otherwise, the election turned out as he had expected.
For District 3 on the council, the runoff will be between incumbent Curtis Cornelious, who received a close 49 percent of the returns (257), and Jason Olson, who received 42 percent (220). Cornelious needed just six more votes to avoid the runoff.
"It's unfortunate that I'm in a runoff election, but I plan to campaign just as hard as I did to get everyone back out to the polls for a reelection," Cornelious said. "So let's get it done."
Cornelious said his strategy for the upcoming weeks is to start from scratch, going door-to-door campaigning just as if he was starting from day one. He does plan on taking a short break first.
"I'd like to thank everyone for casting their vote," Cornelious said. "Please now understand the importance of every vote."
Olson said he is extremely excited about the opportunity for the runoff election.
"When you consider more than half of the voters in District 3 voted against my opponent, that tells me that we need a change in leadership," Olson said.
He said that fact will continue to drive him even more to campaign over the upcoming weeks.
"I look forward to the opportunity to earning the support of those voters who didn't participate in the General Election as well as those who may have supported another candidate," Olson said.
The District 4 runoff election will be between Chip Norman, who received 39 percent of the votes (42), and Bob Burke, who received 31 percent (34).
Norman said he was excited after learning about the runoff election.
"I though I had a pretty good chance going into the Election Day, and I'm excited to see how it turned out," Norman said. "I'm excited to see where it goes from here."
Norman plans to take a short break and get his "bearings straight," before starting back up his campaign. He said he will go through the district and talk to people and let them know about the runoff.
Norman said he was a little surprised about the election.
"I know in the past, we haven't had too much of a turnout from District 4," Norman said. "This year had a good to pretty decent turnout."
Burke said he was happy to be a part of the runoff.
"We had pretty good candidates and it's a shame one had to be pushed out, but we'll see what happens at the next one," Burke said.
Burke said he will probably just do the same thing he did in the first election for his campaign until June 23.
"I thank all of [the voters] for voting for me," Burke said. "I wish we had more people come out. It's an awful small turnout for the number of voters we had."
Early voting for the runoff election by personal appearance will be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 11-16 and 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. June 18-19. The runoff election day is June 23. The last day to register to vote on June 23 is Thursday, May 24.
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