Brian Horsfield receives most votes for Fairfield council seat, but runoff may be held

There was a surprising amount of drama in what appeared to be an uncontested race for a Fairfield City Council seat that was settled in a special election on Tuesday, Sept. 2.

Brian Horsfield was the only name on the ballot to fill the Ward 3 vacancy created by the passing of former city council member Judy Ham in late June. Despite this, the race ended up being close, with Horsfield having to stave off a last-minute challenge from write-in candidate Victoria Thompson. Horsfield received 46 votes to Thompson’s 44, and 16 votes went to other candidates.

It’s not clear what will happen next since no candidate received at least 50 percent of the vote. An email from Jefferson County Elections Clerks Abbie DeKleine seemed to indicate that there will be a runoff election in four weeks.

When The Union reached out to Horsfield Tuesday night, he said he had not heard anything from the Jefferson County Auditor’s Office about a potential runoff. In fact, Horsfield said he was at the courthouse at the time of the vote counting, and based on what he could overhear, he assumed he had lost.

Horsfield said that, regardless of how this election turns out, he feels that he’s done a lot of work to bring attention to the golf cart bridge replacement project at Walton Lake. He said no voter he spoke with was in favor of the project, and he hopes the Fairfield City Council will change course.

The Union attempted to reached Victoria Thompson for comment but was unable to do so.

If a runoff election is to be held, The Union will publish the details of it as soon as they are available.