The road ahead for the new city of Brookhaven will involve another election before the new city’s government is officially in place.

Out of the five races for City Council on the Nov. 6 ballot, only one produced a clear winner. Jim Eyre won the District 2 seat with 54.63 percent of the vote. In the mayor’s race, J. Max Davis and Sandy Murray were the two leading candidates after all the votes were counted.

Sandy Murray chats with supporters gathered at a friend’s home for an election night party.

The mayoral race had taken a negative turn in recent weeks, but both candidates were largely upbeat Tuesday evening.

Davis said he plans to begin campaigning for the runoff. He said he was hoping to avoid a runoff because he believes it will delay the important work of setting up the new city.

“I’m just happy I was the leading vote getter,” he said.

Murray said it will be challenging to get voters excited about showing up to the polls on Dec. 4, but said she was looking forward to the runoff.

“I’m really excited about our new city and the potential we have to make it something we all enjoy living and participating in,” Murray said.

J. Max Davis talks to supporters gathered for an election night party at Pub 71.

Eyre, in District 2, said he was glad to have his election out of the way.

“I think the campaign was the easy part,” Eyre said. “Now the real work begins. I’m just glad it’s over and I’m glad I ended up as a council person. I’m ready to get to work and do what’s best for Brookhaven.”

The runoff will be held on Dec. 4, only days before the city officially opens for business on Dec. 17.

The following candidates will advance to the Dec. 4 runoff.

District 1:

Rebecca Chase Williams

Kevin D. Fitzpartick Jr.

District 3:

Bates Mattison

Kevin Quirk

District 4:

Joe Gebbia

Karen Lord

The unofficial results:

Mayor – 12 of 12 precincts                                      Total votes

Larry Danese                      10.32%                           1,637

J. Max Davis                       48.66%                           7,720

Sandy Murray                    35.51%                           5,704

Thom Shepard                 5.07%                               805

District 1  — 4 of 4 precincts reporting

Alan Cole                             18.58%                            1,073

Michelle Conlon               4.78%                               276

Kevin D. Fitzpartick Jr.    19.44%                          1,123

Kevin Meaders                 12.00%                             693

Rebecca Chase Williams                45.20%            2,611

District 2  — 4 of 4 precincts reporting

Jim Eyre                               54.63%                            1,782

Larry Hurst                          13.64%                           445

Russell Mitchell                 31.73%                            1,035

District 3 — 5 of 5 precincts reporting

Deborah Anthony            17.60%                           726

Hope Bawcom                   12.42%                            512

Bates Mattison                 21.22%                             875

Bridget O’Donnell            6.57%                              271

Ben Podgor                        2.23%                               92

Kevin Quirk                         20.97%                          865

Julia Russo                          12.20%                           503

Gaye L. Stathis                  1.48%                               61

Erik Steavens                     5.31%                               219

District 4 — 4 of 4 precincts

Joe Gebbia                         39.75%                              820

Karen Lord                          34.27%                             707

Kerry Witt                          25.98%                               536

Dan Whisenhunt wrote for Reporter Newspapers from 2011 - 2014. He is the founder and editor of Decaturish.com