After waiting six days longer than expected, incumbent Sara Presler has now been elected to a second term as Flagstaff mayor. According to the unofficial final results from the Coconino County Recorder’s Office, Presler defeated councilmember Joe Haughey by 217 votes, collecting 49.6 percent of the votes to Haughey’s 47.81 percent.

“I felt really positive [during the delay],” Presler said. “I went right back to work the day after the election, and never took anything for granted.”

Coconino County Record Candy Owens said the the delay occurred because of some early-submitted ballots and some provisional ballots from those who are not currently located in Flagstaff. The recorder’s office needed until Monday to confirm the legitimacy of these ballots.

The mayoral campaign was controversial from the beginning, with Vice Mayor Al White endorsing then-candidate Kara Kelty as mayor. No councilmember had endorsed either Haughey or Presler. However, Presler said she is looking forward to working with the council.

“The best way [to unite the council] is to demonstrate my strong work ethic and my vision for Flagstaff by working together to do what’s right,” Presler said. “I have nothing against anyone personally, not even my opponent.”

After Kelty was eliminated in the March 9 primary, an internal memo from a Washington D.C. lobbying firm contracted by the city of Flagstaff was leaked to city manager Kevin Burke. The memo stated Presler had shown unethical and unprofessional behavior. While Haughey denied allegations his campaign was involved in the release of the memo, he did use the memo as a reason not to vote for Presler. In a city council meeting, the memo was discussed, but further actions were held off until after the election.

Presler reflected back on the highs and lows of the campaign.

“The good is the truth and democracy won out in the end,” Presler said. “The bad is my opponent fought very ugly with mudslinging. The ugly is the campaign was very expensive, because when there’s so much negativity, you have to defend yourself.”

Haughey was not immediately available for comment.

Other elections were decided May 18. In the race for Flagstaff City Council, Art Babbott, Celia Barotz and incumbent Scott Overton will fill the three disputed council seats. In addition, the sales tax renewal, the BBB tax renewal and the APS franchise renewal were all overwhelmingly approved. However, Meet and Confer — the collective bargaining agreement that would allow city employees to formally discuss with their employers items related to their job — is looking like it is headed toward defeat, with “No” votes ahead of “Yes” votes by a count of 5,769 to 5,416.

In an election held across Arizona, the one-cent sales tax Proposition 100 received a dominating victory, with about a two-to-one ration of “Yes” to “No” votes.