MANSFIELD — It will likely be two weeks before Mansfield knows the results of its race for city law director.
Roeliff “Rollie” Harper led by a razor thin margin Tuesday night with 50.35 percent of the vote, according to final, unofficial vote totals from the Richland County Board of Elections. Harper garnered 788 votes. Christopher Brown received 777.
The winner of the Democratic primary will likely come down to absentee and provisional ballots.
Whoever wins is almost guaranteed the role of city law director in January, since no local Republicans filed to run for the seat.
Jane Zimmerman, deputy director of the Richland County Board of Elections, said the board still has to count provisional and absentee ballots. Any absentee ballots postmarked by May 1 can be accepted by mail through Saturday.
The board will start its official account, which includes provisional and absentee ballots, on May 15 and vote to approve the results on May 16.
Harper said he was stressed but thankful for the support he received from voters.
“You never know how an election is going to come out,” he said. “All you can do is everything you know to do and I did that.”
Harper, 64, has served as a juvenile court magistrate for nine years and was a mayoral appointee to the Civil Service Commission for six years. He spent 32 years as a practicing attorney and ran unsuccessfully for Richland County Juvenile Court judge in 2019.
Brown, 36, has worked in Spon’s office since 2011. He was promoted to deputy law director in 2013. This is his first attempt at public office.
Brown said he didn’t think the race would be so close.
“Knowing that I did really well in the mail-ins that were first reported at the beginning of the night, we look forward to seeing those final votes tabulated,” Brown said.
“I just want to give a huge thanks to my friends, my family, all my campaign volunteers, and my supporters.”
Brown said he was in high spirits Tuesday evening in spite of the uncertainty.
“With all things you have to just wait and see. I don’t get too excited one way or another,” he said.
“I always like to quote Winston Churchill in times like these: ‘Success is not final; failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts.”
