City Councilwoman Margaret King appears to have won re-election.
King, a Democrat, was trailing fellow Democrat John Mootooveren by just 7 votes on Election Night. As the rest of the ballots have slowly been counted over the past three weeks, however, she pulled ahead and steadily increased her lead.
With just a few more ballots to count, she is now 39 votes ahead of Mootooveren, and Democrats agreed she had enough of a lead to declare victory.
It’s a relief, but it’s a bittersweet win, she said.
“I would have liked it, obviously, for both John and I to be on the council,” she said.
She cited his qualifications — he is a trained accountant — and the fact that he’s black. Without him, the 2012 council is now entirely made up of whites.
But Mootooveren might still get onto the council after all. With Democrat Gary McCarthy all but certainly winning the mayor’s race, there will be a vacancy on the council, where he has served as council president.
If McCarthy becomes mayor, the council will appoint a replacement. That person will have to run next year and again the following year to win a full four-year term.
King said the council is considering Mootooveren and Marion Porterfield. Both are black.
Councilman Joseph Allen, the first and only black council member, is retiring at the end of the year.
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