Pat Stone elected new mayor of Waukon in December 5 run-off vote

Voters in the city of Waukon elected a new mayor in the Tuesday, December 5 run-off election.

According to now canvassed results released by the Allamakee County Auditor's Office, those voters elected city government newcomer Pat Stone to the Waukon Mayor's office by a 395-236 final vote count over current Waukon City Council member and one-time multi-term Waukon mayor Dwight Jones.

Stone's margin of victory included an absentee vote spread of 83-49 and an election night tally of 312-187.

The run-off election was necessary after the November 7 City Election did not yield a true winner in an initial five-candidate race for Waukon's mayorship. None of those five candidates in that initial mayor's race received the necessary 50%+1 vote majority, pushing the top two vote-getters, Jones and Stone, into the run-off election.

It was actually Jones who emerged from that initial City Election tabulation with the most votes, 259 (35.24% of the vote total), with Stone coming in second with 169 votes (22.99%). Other vote totals included Darryl Brink with 120, Steve Wiedner with 111 and Rick Herman with 73.

The December 5 run-off election featured 104 fewer votes cast than the initial City Election in November, perhaps accounting for some of the 23 votes Jones lost from that first election to the December 5 run-off. Meanwhile, Stone gained the support of more than double his previous election total, tallying 226 additional votes in comparison to his initial City Election total.

Stone will now assume the office of mayor in January 2018, replacing outgoing mayor Duane DeWalle, who did not seek re-election to the mayor's seat this year. Meanwhile, Jones has another two years remaining in his current city council term. He had previously served as Waukon's mayor from 2000-2008.