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The Headlines
Maumelle: City Council to meet Monday
North Little Rock: Dancy dies after Covid-19 battle
North Little Rock: 'Fall for Dance' tonight
North Little Rock: November’s new businesses
Real Estate council honors Dickson Flake, others at annual event
Sports headlines
Sports: North Little Rock, Bryant meet, again
Sports: This season is a clustermess of epic proportions
Others are saying
CNN: Lakewood Santa gets national attention
Hartwick to serve as North Little Rock’s next mayor
Harris returns as Ward 3 Alderman
Terry Hartwick is North Little Rock’s once and future mayor.
Hartwick defeated School Board member and former state legislator Tracy Steele in a runoff election on Tuesday with 5,417 votes to Steele’s 4,737 or 53.35 percent to 46.65.
Hartwick and Steele were the top two vote getters in November’s general election and Hartwick said he expected the race to go into extra innings.
“It was hard not to be in a runoff,” Hartwick said in an expansive phone interview on Wednesday. “When you got four people in, you just expect a runoff.”
In November, Steele finished first with 45 percent of the vote, while Hartwick garnered 32.5 percent. Running in third was veteran Alderman Debi Ross, who had a strong showing with 18 percent of the vote.
Turnout for the runoff election was considerably less than November’s showing with only 10,158 ballots cast. In November, Steele got 11,291 votes by himself.
Of the city’s 27 precincts. Hartwick won 16 to Steele’s 11 and the difference was in Ward 4, which went overwhelmingly for Hartwick.
Hartwick’s winning margin in the election was 680 votes.
He nearly got that just at the Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church polling location where he won 749 to 195 or 554 votes more than Steele.
Another precinct Hartwick dominated was Central Baptist Church, where he won 671 to 136 or 533 votes more. Combined, those two polling locations accounted for 1,087 or nearly 20 percent of his winning total.
Steele also pulled off some impressive numbers at precinct level as well though.
His best showing was All Souls Church, where he won 474 votes to Hartwick’s 80 votes. Another was Sherman Park where Steele nabbed 367 votes, while Hartwick got a paltry 37.
The closest large voting precinct was Levy Baptist where Hartwick held a 6 vote advantage, or 248 to 242.
Steele had the lead after early voting, but Hartwick won absentees and set the winning margin with Election Day votes.
See chart for the precinct by precinct breakdown. The four undervotes, where blank ballots were cast, are not noted.
Hartwick was elected mayor in 1984, then defeated in 1988 by Patrick Hays, who then held the office until 2012. Hartwick then went on to lead the North Little Rock Chamber of Commerce for 15 years before returning to public service and served as head of the city’s Parks and Recreation Department.
Looking ahead, Hartwick said he has plans for his second term as mayor.
“Covid-19, that is still going to be a top priority,” he said. “I ran on safety and that’s something I want to emphasize. … Very big on code enforcement as well.”
Hartwick also noted one other big project on his agenda.
“I’m ready to get rid of that old bus station,” Hartwick said with a laugh but still serious about the Greyhound station downtown. “It is past time for that thing to go.”
In the other runoff, incumbent Alderman Ron Harris handily defeated former alderman John Parker in Ward 3.
Harris garnered 906 votes to Parker’s 577 for a 61-39 percent split.
Hartwick-Steele Precinct Breakdown
Key: Precinct winner, vote total and percentage for each candidate
8 - Jess Odom Community Center: Tracy Steele ... 14 ... 56 | Terry C. Hartwick ... 11 ... 44
9 - Hampton Inn Maumelle: Tracy Steele ... 118 ... 67.43 | Terry C. Hartwick ... 57 ... 32.57
10 - Levy Baptist Church: Tracy Steele ... 136 ... 43.87 | Terry C. Hartwick ... 174 ... 56.13
11 - Graves Memorial Baptist Church: Tracy Steele ... 0 … 0 | Terry C. Hartwick ... 6 … 100
12 - Graves Memorial Baptist Church: Tracy Steele ... 0 … 0 | Terry C. Hartwick ... 7 100
13 - Sylvan Hills United Methodist Church: Tracy Steele ... 28 ... 17.28 | Terry C. Hartwick ... 134 ... 82.72
14 - Levy Baptist Church: Tracy Steele ... 242 ... 49.39 | Terry C. Hartwick ... 248 ... 50.61
15 - Greater New Bibleway Church: Tracy Steele ... 354 ... 74.53 | Terry C. Hartwick ... 121 ... 25.47
16 - North Little Rock City Hall: Tracy Steele ... 102 ... 55.43 | Terry C. Hartwick ... 82 ... 44.57
17 - Maple Place Activity Center: Tracy Steele ... 345 ... 71.58 | Terry C. Hartwick ... 137 ... 28.42
18 - Trinity Lutheran Church: Tracy Steele ... 246 ... 43.46 | Terry C. Hartwick ... 320 ... 56.54
19 - North Heights Recreation Center: Tracy Steele ... 364 ... 71.37 | Terry C. Hartwick ... 146 ... 28.63
20 - Lakewood United Methodist Church: Tracy Steele ... 174 ... 25.55 | Terry C. Hartwick ... 507 ... 74.45
21 - Park Hill Christian Church: Tracy Steele ... 100 ... 29.33 | Terry C. Hartwick ... 241 ... 70.67
22 - Levy Church of Christ: Tracy Steele ... 332 ... 47.84 | Terry C. Hartwick ... 362 ... 52.16
23 - Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church: Tracy Steele ... 195 ... 20.66 | Terry C. Hartwick ... 749 ... 79.34
24 - St. Anne Parish Hall: Tracy Steele ... 120 ... 19.67 | Terry C. Hartwick ... 490 ... 80.33
25 - North View Missionary: Tracy Steele ... 78 ... 28.16 | Terry C. Hartwick ... 199 ... 71.84
31 - Sylvan Hills UMC: Tracy Steele ... 7 ... 58.33 | Terry C. Hartwick ... 5 ... 41.67
40 - Sylvan Hills Community Church: Tracy Steele ... 78 ... 25.74 | Terry C. Hartwick ... 225 ... 74.26
48 - Harris Elementary School: Tracy Steele ... 1 ... 11.11 | Terry C. Hartwick ... 8 ... 88.89
50 - Central Baptist Church: Tracy Steele ... 136 ... 16.85 | Terry C. Hartwick ... 671 ... 83.15
51 - Lakewood UMC: Tracy Steele ... 89 ... 25.14 | Terry C. Hartwick ... 265 ... 74.86
52 - Sherman Park Community Center: Tracy Steele ... 362 ... 90.73 | Terry C. Hartwick ... 37 ... 9.27
53 - Glenview Community Center: Tracy Steele ... 305 ... 84.02 | Terry C. Hartwick ... 58 ... 15.98
54 - Glenview Community Center: Tracy Steele ... 337 ... 81.40 | Terry C. Hartwick ... 77 ... 18.60
55 - All Souls Church: Tracy Steele ... 474 ... 85.56 | Terry C. Hartwick ... 80 ... 14.44