FAYETTEVILLE — The Nov. 5 general election saw five contested races at the Fayetteville municipal level.

The ballot included choices for mayor, city clerk and three positions on the City Council.

The results below are the final, but unofficial totals as released by the Washington County Election Commission on Tuesday.

Fayetteville Mayor

Fayetteville Mayor Lioneld Jordan and challenger Molly Rawn will head to a Dec. 3 runoff after Jordan took 47% of the vote, and Rawn took 37%.

In Arkansas, a person can’t win outright in a municipal race with more than two candidates unless they either receive over 50% of the vote or take at least 40% of the vote and are ahead of the second place candidate by 20%.

Two other candidates in the mayor’s race included Tom Terminella (12%) and Adam Fire Cat (4%).

Jordan was first elected after defeating Dan Coody in 2008. He defeated Coody again in 2012, and ran successful campaigns in 2016 and 2020. Before serving as mayor, Jordan was a two-term City Council member in Ward 4.

Rawn emerged as a challenger for Jordan last fall. She is the executive director of the Fayetteville Advertising and Promotion Commission and CEO of Experience Fayetteville, the city’s tourism bureau.

It’s the third time Terminella, a real estate broker, has challenged Jordan. He was defeated by Jordan in 2016 and 2020. Terminella also ran an unsuccessful campaign in the Republican primary for county judge in 2022.

Fire Cat is a food service worker and longtime political candidate who last ran for mayor in 2008. He also ran unsuccessful campaigns for City Council in 2020, 2018, 2012 and 2010. He filed for City Council in 2016, but withdrew his candidacy after moving to another ward.

Ward 1 Position 2

Councilmember D’Andre Jones will serve a second term in Ward 2 after taking 64% of the vote.

He was challenged by local architect Jody Verser , who received 36% of the vote.

Jones was elected to the council in 2020 after defeating Tanner Pettigrew in a runoff election with 72% of the votes to Pettigrew’s 28%. The two were part of a four-person race for the seat in the general election, but headed to a runoff after emerging as the top contenders over Pedro Fimbres and Oroo Oyioka.

Ward 2, Position 2

Councilmember Mike Wiederkehr is currently leading in Ward 2 with 14 more votes than local school teacher Jesse Buchanan , but the race may not yet be determined.

Election commission director Jennifer Price said there are over 800 provisional ballots and more than 100 overseas ballots that must be checked individually, meaning there’s a chance the Ward 2 race could be affected, depending on how many of those ballots include voters from that area. That decision will come later this week, Price said.

Wiederkehr received 2,755 votes to Buchanan’s 2,741 votes.

If his lead holds, Wiederkehr’s will serve a second term. He was voted in during a special election in 2022 after Matthew Petty resigned from the position. A former Planning Commission member, Wiederkehr defeated challengers Leslie Belden and Kristen Scott after taking 49% of the votes in 2022.

Ward 3, Position 2

Councilmember Sarah Bunch was running unopposed and will begin her third term next year as a Ward 3 representative.

Bunch was first elected in 2016 as one of three candidates who hoped to replace outgoing Councilmember Martin Schoppmeyer. In the general election, Bunch received 48% of the votes, while Tracy Hoskins received 36% and Benjamin Harrison took 15%. Bunch defeated Hoskins in a run-off election with 63% of the votes.

Bunch secured a second term after defeating challenger Peter Tonnessen in 2020 with 77% of the votes.

Ward 4, Position 2

Monique Jones and Todd Hertzberg will head to a Dec. 3 runoff, after each received about 42% of the vote.

Only 20 votes separated the two candidates, with Jones receiving 3,686 votes to Hertzberg’s 3,666 votes. A third challenger, Brandon Spicher , received 1,459 votes, or 17%.

The winner of the runoff will replace Holly Hertzberg, Todd’s daughter, who did not seek re-election for a second term.

In Arkansas, a person can’t win outright in a municipal race with more than two candidates unless they either receive over 50% of the vote or take at least 40% of the vote and are ahead of the second place candidate by 20%.

Hertzberg founded the Hertzberg Law Firm of Arkansas, and Jones is a minister at St. James Missionary Baptist Church who heads the food pantry program. Spicher works in strategy and innovation at Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield’s Northwest Arkansas Corporate Center.

City Clerk-Treasurer

City Clerk-Treasurer Kara Paxton will serve a second term after taking 75% of the vote.

She was challenged by Lorinda Smith , a former city clerk’s office staffer, who received 25% of the vote.

Paxton was selected in late 2019 to serve the remainder of the term held by Sondra Smith, who died earlier that year at age 65 after over 17 years with the city.

Sunday Alcohol Sales

Voters have approved a measure to allow Sunday alcohol sales inside the Fayetteville city limits.

The measure passed with 82% of voters in favor and 18% against.

In Arkansas, cities can individually place Sunday alcohol sales questions on the ballot if enough signatures are collected. The City Clerk’s office in July verified that the petition campaign by the Walmart-backed group Keep Our Dollars in Fayetteville had met the required signature threshold. A city resolution to place the measure on the ballot was approved shortly after that.

Fayetteville now joins Greenland, Springdale and Tontitown as cities that now allow Sunday alcohol sales in Washington County.

State law stipulates that the sale of alcoholic beverages for off-premises consumption can only occur between the hours of 10 a.m. and midnight on Sundays.