BOISE, Idaho — After the Nov. 7 elections, most races in the Gem State had a clear winner, but a few required a runoff election and a rare instance of a redo due to errors.
A breakdown and results of the Dec. 5 runoff elections are included below:
RESULTS
All precincts reporting.
Eagle Mayoral Election
Brad Pike: 55% (5,444 votes)
Jason Pierce: 45% (4,427 votes)
Mountain Home Mayoral Election
Rich Sykes: 58% (1475 votes)
Misty Pierce: 42% (1060 votes)
Jerome County Valley School District Trustee Zone 4
Matthew Kimmel 53% (25 votes)
Michael Lake: 47% (22 votes)
RACE PREVIEWS
Eagle Mayoral Election:
The previous election in Eagle had a total of 10,003 votes. Mayor Jason Pierce received 35% of the vote, which translates to 3,549 votes. City Council President Brad Pike received 31% of the vote, totaling 3,142 votes. This leaves roughly a third of the vote on the table for candidates to receive in Tuesday's runoff election.
The Eagle runoff election has been a hot race of how divisive the community is on both candidates. During a recent city council meeting, community members took to the podium to voice who they support and why.
The community will take to the polls to vote on who they want to lead their city.
Mayor Jason Pierce
During KTVB's one-on-one interview, Pierce spoke about the police contract between the City of Eagle and the Ada County Sheriff's Office that was heavily debated in the city council earlier this year. Pierce defended the contract, noting that during his tenure, the city has raised the police budget by 24% and added four new officers and a community officer.
On the issue of Eagle's rapid growth over the past four years, Pierce said he wished the city could limit some of the new development but acknowledged the importance of private property rights in Idaho.
Instead, he said the city has stuck closely to its comprehensive plan by requiring new housing developments to be built at the lowest approved density levels.
As the election approaches, Pierce is highlighting his record on public safety investments, responsible growth policies, and long-range planning as reasons to re-elect him as the leader of Eagle.
City Council President Brad Pike
When KTVB interviewed Brad Pike, he said getting into local governance is a "calling" for him, driven by a desire to improve "public safety and economic development" in the Eagle community.
On the issue of public safety, Pike advocated for increased funding and staffing for the Eagle Police Department, which he sees as currently "deficient."
In terms of city growth, Pike acknowledged past opposition to the contested Avimor annexation but agrees that growth will continue.
"We always have 40 projects on the floor here that we have to allow to come to fruition and finish out building them, and that's going to put us up, you know, in the mid 40,000 just on its own," Pike said.
Looking four years ahead, if elected, Pike envisions an Eagle that is more "harmonious" and unified as a community. He aims to "bring back communication" between city government and residents.
Mountain Home Mayoral Election:
After the Nov. 7 election, a total of 2,368 ballots were cast. Mayor Rich Sykes received 992 votes, which is 42% of the total votes cast. Challenger Misty Pierce received 842 votes, which is 36% of the total votes cast.
Mayor Rich Sykes
When KTVB sat down for an interview with Mayor Rich Sykes, he addressed government transparency and said during his time in office, he has been transparent to the public.
"Every year, we have a budget book, and it tells what every single department [has] asked for," Sykes said. "The cool thing about it is, it tells you everything you would ever want of transparency."
Mayor Sykes also said the city doesn't have much capital but has been able to gain more money to allow it to tackle more projects.
Skyes emphasized the importance of hearing the voices and opinions of the Mountain Home residents. He has an open-door policy on Mondays and welcomes any residents to walk into his office to voice their concerns.
Challenger Misty Pierce
KTVB also spoke with Misty Pierce, who said she has been critical of government transparency.
"A lot of people are asking questions. Where's this money [is] coming from? What kind of grants… are obtained by the city?" Pierce said. "When you get the budget, it does not explain that it just says, grant and the dollar amount."
She mentioned that the city's projects are taking longer to complete, and she doesn't believe that the money allocated for health and safety is being used properly.
Pierce said her platform places residents first and wants to bring back town halls so Mountain Home residents can voice their concerns.
Jerome County Valley School District Trustee Zone 4:
After the Nov. 7 election, While examining the election results, the Jerome County Clerk found that two voters, a couple from the same household, were incorrectly issued an absentee ballot for Trustee Zone 5, but the voters reside in Zone 4.
This prompted a judicial review of elections law to be used, and a judge granted a redo of the election.
Michael Lake received 48 votes, while Matthew Kimme received 47 votes. Voters will decide who will win the seat.
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