Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Seat On Council Not Won In Ward

A seat on the Prescott City Council was won in the June 11 runoff election by a box outside the district in question.

Donna Wingfield and Vernon Meeks had made it through the first round of the May 21 primary election. The two went head-to-head in the runoff with it being a winner-take-all situation.

However, in the primary election, only voters in Ward 4 were allowed to vote on the race. In the runoff, people from across the city of Prescott were able to cast their ballots for the seat.

Wingfield won Ward 1 260 to 214. Meeks took Ward 2 106-58. Meeks also won Ward 3, 54-47, and captured Ward 4, 111-75. Wingfield was the winner of absentee balloting 37-21, and garnered the majority of votes from early voters, 61-29.

Meeks said he ran a good race, but came up short. "I'm sure I got beat in Ward 1," he said.

On the other side, Wingfield said she was delighted with the win.

She said competition made the win much sweeter and anything worth working for is worth working hard for.

"I appreciate those who voted for me," Wingfield said. "More voters turned out than I expected. I'd anticipated a smaller turnout, but I'm pleased with it.

"I look forward to working on getting jobs and industry here and helping the town grow."

Meeks also thanked those who participated in the electoral process and supported his efforts.

"I don't plan on giving up," he said. "Look for me in the future."

Meeks said he considered suing because of the election being city wide instead of only for Ward 4, but won't. "I don't want to raise a stink," he said. "It'll all come out in the wash and someone will do something about it.

"I don't have time to push it, but it's unfair." He said only those living in Ward 4 should have been allowed to cast their ballots for the position.

"I plan on running again," he said. "I'm not giving up. I thought I ran good enough to win, and would have if it was just ward voting. We'll see what happens next time."