Jordan, Rawn heading to runoff in Fayetteville mayoral election

Updates

11:15 p.m. — After news of going to a runoff, Rawn posted the following message:

"The majority of the people in Fayetteville have let us know that they are ready for change. We worked hard to bring forward issues and ideas that matter deeply to Fayetteville, and I know these conversations will continue. We are ready for this runoff! We are excited & hopeful about the next 30 days - we’re ready to continue the hard work."

10 p.m. — Unofficial results from Washington County election officials say that Jordan came out on top with 46.92% (16,609). Rawn received 36.92% (13,068), Terminella received 12.39% (4,386), and Fire Cat received 3.76% (1,332). With all precincts reporting, Rawn and Jordan will go to a runoff.

The runoff will be Dec. 3.

9:50 p.m. — 5NEWS' Lauren Spencer is reporting from Jordan's watch party which is relatively quiet, but spirits are high after positive preliminary numbers.

8:15 p.m. — Unofficial, preliminary results from early voting in Washington County were shared by election officials and showed Jordan in the lead with 48.12% (12,371) of the vote. Rawn trails with 36.76% (9,450) followed by Terminella with 12.16% (3,126) and Fire Cat with 2.95% (759).

7:30 p.m. — Polls in Arkansas have closed.

6 p.m. — Jordan posted on Facebook that he will be closing out the campaign in South Fayetteville.

4 p.m. — Voting continues throughout Washington County, with polls closing at 7:30 p.m. Rawn has announced that her election party will begin at 7 p.m. at Cheers at the OPO.

Lioneld Jordan

Experience

"I work well with people. People know me. I've got 16 years of experience, so I've seen it all. I've seen pandemics, I've seen recessions, I've seen hyperinflation. And through it all, I believe I bring stability in an uncertain world that we're seeing right now."

"I handle a $513 million budget, and I have 926 staff that I have to make sure that they're taking care of. I think one of the most important things you do as elected officials is properly manage taxpayers' money, and I do that very well."

Housing Crisis

"We're going to incentivize the development community to come in right now."

"As far as housing goes, we have a wage crisis in this city now. The average house in this city is $460,000 a year. Now we have lots of people working in this city who make $12 to $15 an hour. They will never own a home, and the rent has skyrocketed in the last few years. What we got to do, I believe, we flood the city with housing along 71B and it will drive the price down on the houses."

Infrastructure

"I think the first thing that we need to work on is water and sewer infrastructure because if you don't have proper infrastructure, you don't have anything."

"What we're going to do from right now until this time next year, we're going to spend $110 million on water, sewer infrastructure. Then I'm going to be looking at a bond. We're going to fix all the all the lines and everything. That's something I've wanted to do for a while."

"We're building roads. As you can tell if you drive around town, we have road construction going on everywhere. It's inconvenient for the present time, but in the future, we'll have the proper infrastructure to meet any kind of growth."

Unhoused population

"We've spent $4.9 million on homeless programs and low-income rental and housing for folks that have low income. We spent $1.4 million on organizations that help the homeless and low-income people keep their homes. Those are important things; we're going to continue that."

"When we look at the homeless thing, it's not just something unique to the city of Fayetteville. It's a regional thing, and all of us in the region have got to say we've got a problem here. When all of us work together, I've never seen anything this region couldn't accomplish together."

Climate change and the environment

"We have preserved 1,100 acres of urban forest that will never be touched again."

"If you read the Climate Action Plan, the number one goal is to cut greenhouse gas emissions. We got to keep clean water, we got to keep clean air, and whatever it takes to do that."

Molly Rawn

Experience

"During my time at Experience Fayetteville, we had our highest tax collection month on record, and I have built an incredible team that is responsible for increasing economic development in the city through tourism. We were responsible for bringing the 2022 Cyclocross World Championships to the United States, only the second time that championship had been in the U.S. We are also responsible for bringing programming to the area like the art court and also establishing the Downtown Fayetteville Coalition."

Housing crisis

"I want this to be a place where my children can call home, and it is getting increasingly difficult to find attainable housing. The challenges that we are experiencing because of the rapid growth are really important to me, and so I am running with an eye to the future to see how we can build the best possible Fayetteville."

"The number one thing that we can do in light of the housing crisis is to build more of it. It is illegal to build housing in the majority of the city, and we can change that. We also need to form partnerships, and particularly public private partnerships, that will allow for subsidized housing, so that we can have more housing units at all across the spectrum."

Infrastructure

"We need massive investments in infrastructure upgrades, particularly in water. We are not keeping up with the growth. We're behind, and so that has to be priority number one from day one."

Unhoused population

"Our unhoused population is top of mind for so many people. I've spent the past year talking to voters, and it comes up in almost every conversation. Regardless of where anyone stands politically, we can all recognize that this is a problem, and we can tackle it with a great deal of compassion, but we have to have a plan and a strategy."

"I'm a proponent of what's known as a housing first model, which is that first and foremost, we need to get people housed before we address many of the systemic issues that are leading to them to continue to be unhoused."

Climate change and the environment

"What we are realizing nationally is that cities and municipalities are really on the front lines of targeting climate change, and we're going to be feeling the brunt of it. There is no time left to argue about whether or not you believe that is real or not. It is and it's here. I think one of the most important things that we can do in response to climate change is to build enough housing for people and that we can have the density that more people can rely on public transportation."

Adam Fire Cat

Experience

"I've run for office a multitude of times."

Housing Crisis

"When we talk about changes of an evolving city, of an increasing population, we will be talking about building height, because you can go 'up' or 'out,' and we're running out of 'out.' Up is going to be the new way to go, and it's not going to please people, because we miss the way Fayetteville used to be, but it ain't that anymore. It's starting to do this evolution."

Infrastructure

"Our 2050 plan is pretty good about it, but I think they've had to come to acknowledge that this growth pattern is going to be an issue. 25 into 50 years from now, we'll definitely need to have already laid the groundwork. So we're already doing that currently, and I support that plan."

Unhoused population

"This needs to be addressed. This is more important to me than the aquatic center. We need the facilities brought up for the organizations that help support these individuals and help treat these peoples, but we're going to have to talk serious treatment over time."

Climate change and the environment

"All the green spaces we allow doesn't make up for all the ones we have to remove. It's not a perfect system. It's not going to be perfect. I think the idea is to minimize the damage we cause. I have no issue with this. I'm unconvinced to the degree of which that matters. But I'm willing to be convinced."

Tom Terminella

Terminella did not wish to speak to 5NEWS but said he would be open to an interview if he's in a runoff race.