These Mayoral Elections Were Decided With Less Than 1,000 Votes

Between 2019 and 2023, the average mayoral election in the top-100 US cities had a margin-of-victory of 17,945 votes. The top five closest general elections in that period, however, were decided by fewer than 1,000 votes.

The 2019 mayoral election in Aurora, Colorado was the closest, with 214 votes separating winner Mike Coffman (R) and second-place finisher Omar Montgomery.

The four next closest elections were in Austin, Texas (886), Oakland, California (677), Arlington, Texas (646), and Greensboro, North Carolina (425).

The closest general election featuring an incumbent was in Greensboro, North Carolina, where incumbent Nancy B. Vaughan (D) defeated Justin Outling by 425 votes.

The next four closest elections were in:

Arlington, Texas, where incumbent Jim Ross won by 646 votes;
Garland, Texas, where incumbent Scott LeMay (R) won by 4,661 votes;
Wichita, Kansas, where incumbent Jeff Longwell (R) lost by 5,205 votes, and;
Lincoln, Nebraska, where incumbent Leirion Gaylor Baird (D) won by 6,668 votes.

Sixty-three of the top 100 mayors ran for re-election from 2019 to July 2023. Nine lost re-election.

The four most competitive primaries between 2019 and July 2023 were also decided by fewer than 1,000 votes.

The Green Party primary in Tucson, Arizona, was the closest, with 29 votes separating first and second place.

The next closest were the nonpartisan primaries in Gilbert, Arizona (166) and Scottsdale, Arizona (226), and the Republican primary in Baltimore, Maryland (562).

The closest primary election featuring an incumbent was in Buffalo, New York, where India Walton beat incumbent Byron Brown by 1,049 votes in the Democratic primary. Brown went on to defeat Walton in the general election as a write-in candidate.

The second-closest one was in Wichita, Kansas, where incumbent Jeff Longwell (R) received 1,342 more votes than Brandon Whipple (D) in the nonpartisan primary. Both moved on to the general election, where Whipple defeated Longwell by 5,205 votes.

The next three closest primaries were in:

Glendale, Arizona, where incumbent Jerry Weiers (R) won by 2,683;
Toledo, Ohio, where incumbent Wade Kapszukiewicz (D) received 3,717 more votes than Carty Finkbeiner (D), and;
Greensboro, North Carolina, where Nancy Vaughan received 3,882 more votes than Justin Outling.

Twenty-nine of the 100 largest cities are holding mayoral elections in 2023. Fourteen have already taken place, and 15 will take place between now and Nov. 7. The next top-100 mayoral election is Nashville’s general election on Aug. 3.

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