With all votes counted, unofficial results show Gus Pappas winning the Dec. 9 runoff election for mayor of Bellaire.
Pappas will finish the race with 57% of the votes, or 1,880 votes. His opponent, Aaron Perry, will finish the race with 43% of the votes, or 1,419 votes.
All votes are unofficial until canvassed.
Updated 11:13 p.m. Dec. 9
With 169 of 450 voting centers reporting in Harris County, Gus Pappas is on track to defeat Aaron Perry to become the next mayor of Bellaire.
Pappas has 58.9% of the votes, or 1,092 total votes, compared to 41.1% of the votes for Perry, or 763 votes. Totals have not changed much since early voting results were announced in Harris County.
All results are unofficial until canvassed.
Posted 8:30 p.m. Dec. 9
With early voting results tallied, Gus Pappas is leading Aaron Perry in the race for mayor of the city of Bellaire.
Pappas has 59.1% of the votes, or 1,086 votes, compared to Perry's 40.9% of the votes, or 753 votes.
The backstory
The two candidates are squaring off after coming out on top of a three-person race that took place during the Nov. 7 election. Pappas finished on top of that race with 41.9% of the votes, while Perry received 30% of the votes.
Since neither candidate received more than 50% of the votes in that race, a runoff election was called for the top two vote-getters.
Meet the candidates
In a Q&A with Community Impact in September, Pappas—an attorney who spent eight years as a Bellaire City Council member—said he wanted to run for mayor to use his experience "to lead, follow, or support council, staff and Bellaire residents to achieve."
Perry is a trial lawyer who manages Perry Law Firm, located in Bellaire. In a Q&A, he emphasized the importance of promoting citizen safety.
“Citizen safety should always be at the top," he said. "Our amazing police and fire departments need support and funding to keep us safe. We must always support them."
Zooming out
The winning candidate will replace current Bellaire Mayor Andrew Friedberg, who is term-limited.
Bellaire’s next mayor will take the reins of the city just as officials are working toward the finish line of a process to update the city’s comprehensive plan. City officials said the plan is being designed to reinforce the neighborhood integrity and bring to the forefront the priority residents place on parks and recreation opportunities, safe streets, commercial areas development, and other city needs.
The mayor also leads meetings of the seven-member Bellaire City Council that take place twice each month. The council oversees city governance, including the passing of city ordinances and approving the annual city budget.
What else?
Two new members and one returning member will be joining the Bellaire City Council in January following the Nov. 7 election, where three seats were up for election. Winners of those races included Catherine Lewis, Cindy Cohen Taylor and Jackie Georgiou. Each race only featured two candidates, so no runoff elections were necessary.
All results are unofficial until canvassed.
