City of Lawrence
Department of Administrative Services
TO: David L. Corliss, City Manager
FROM: Frank S. Reeb, Administrative Services Director/City Clerk
CC: Cynthia Boecker, Assistant City Manager
Diane Stoddard, Assistant City Manager
Jonathan Douglass, Assistant to the City Manager
Toni Wheeler, Director of Legal Services
DATE: December 1, 2008
RE: Recent City Commission Election Information
The following information may be of interest during the primary election regular agenda item on the December 1, 2008 City Commission Regular Agenda.
During the last 10 City Commission elections (1989 through 2007) there was at least one significant change in candidate placement from the primary election to the general election 50% of the time. In other words, in 5 of the last 10 elections, City Commission candidates moved up from fourth place or lower in the primary election to either places third or second in the general election and therefore won one of the three City Commission seats that year. Those five elections were in 1991; 1993; 1995; 1999; and 2001. The most significant change was in 1995 when candidate Alan Levine advanced from 6th place in the primary election to 3rd place in the general election.
Also of note, the average number of primary election candidate filings during the 10 most recent City Commission elections was 11.7. The low number of candidate filings was 9 three times (1999; 2005 and 2007); the highest number of candidates was 15 in 1989. The median number of primary election candidates during this period was 12.