Incumbents held their seats, and voters approved all bonds and the permanent fund in Tuesday’s Rio Rancho municipal elections, according to unofficial results.
Residents enter the voting convenience center at Rockaway Plaza on the morning of Election Day for the city of Rio Rancho. Gary Herron / Observer
One race, the three-way contest for the District 3 city council seat, will go to a runoff election between the top two candidates on April 12. Incumbent Bob Tyler garnered 47 percent of the vote, followed by Joshua Antonio Jones with 29 percent and Clyde A. Ward with 25 percent.
In the mayoral race, incumbent Gregg Hull won a third term by a landslide, taking 68 percent of the votes. Challenger Barbara Ann Jordan received 30 percent, while newcomer Jaclyn Wilhite took 2 percent.
Hull said he was excited about his third term because the voters decided the city was moving in a good direction with job creation, business recruitment, quality of life and public safety.
“This is a resounding affirmation that the people of Rio Rancho want us to continue down this path,” he said.
Barbara Jordan said 30 percent of the community believed in her position.
“I will continue to fight for the needs that we have in our community,” she said.
Jordan said she’d scrutinize every move the incumbent made, “stay in the driver’s seat of politics” and run again in four years.
In District 5, appointed incumbent City Councilor Karissa Culbreath held her seat with 56 percent of the vote against challenger William Edward Dunn, who had 44 percent.
Incumbent Jeremy Paul Lenentine ran unopposed in District 2.
In the municipal judge race, incumbent G. Robert Cook won a fourth term handily, taking 64 percent of the vote compared to 36 percent for his challenger, Jonathan L. Muniz.
All three general obligation bonds on the ballot passed by large margins. Voters approved the road bond with 76 percent supporting it, the public safety bond with 72 percent support and the new quality-of-life facilities bond with 67 percent of the vote.
Sixty-two percent of voters supported the establishment of a permanent fund with $10 million for the initial principal. The money will be invested, and each year half of the earnings will go into the general fund for city services and the other half will go back into the permanent fund to grow the principal.
Five other charter amendments were on the ballot. Voters approved four and rejected one.
The failed amendment would have lengthened the required period for charter reviews from six years to eight years. The charter can be reviewed more frequently as well.
According to city counts, 14.1 percent of eligible voters, or about 10,300 people, in Rio Rancho came to the polls.
For more details and quotes, check back on our website as we update it and pick up a copy of the March 6 Observer.
