BENTONVILLE — Stephanie Orman will be the new mayor of Bentonville, come 2019. Orman defeated Webb in Tuesday’s runoff election.
The complete but unofficial vote totals were:
Orman: 3,226 (63 percent)
Webb: 1,873 (37 percent)
There were 6,957 ballots cast in this year’s midterm runoffs in Benton County, 5,099 of which were in the Bentonville mayoral race. There are 29,382 registered voters in Bentonville, which means the runoff election saw a 17 percent voter turnout.
Webb and Orman entered into the runoff after being the top vote getters in the Nov. 6 general election, receiving 5,595 (43%) and 5,193 (40%) respectively. They were two of five candidates in the mayoral race.
Either would have had to receive a majority, which is 50 percent plus one vote, or would have had to receive 40 percent of the vote and be 20 percent ahead of the second-closest candidate in order to win the general election outright.
Webb, 37, is a senior national account manager for Walmart Inc. and Sam’s Club businesses at Backyard Discovery and Step2 in Bentonville. He served on the City Council from 2015 to February. He resigned from the City Council because he moved out of the ward he was representing.
Webb’s campaign platform included supporting first responders to ensure city safety as growth continues, making infrastructure a priority and reducing wasteful spending in the city budget.
Orman, 43, has served on the City Council since 2015. She represents Ward 1 and is also on the animal shelter task force. She is the director of social media and community involvement with McLarty Daniel Automotive Group in Bentonville.
Orman’s campaign platform included supporting first responders to ensure city safety as growth continues, continuing to invest in quality of life initiatives and make infrastructure a priority. She has said she’d consider proposing a tax increase in order to support a bond sale.
The candidates tussled the weeks between the general and runoff elections.
Orman drew attention to mailers a Washington D.C.-based political action committee sent supporting Webb days before the general election. She called for the other mayoral candidates to denounce the use of outside money in the local, nonpartisan race.
Webb said he spent many conversations with people explaining the PAC supported him by sending mailers out on his behalf, without his approval, and it didn’t give money directly to his campaign.
Webb also spent time before the runoff denying allegations that he had offered John Skaggs, an opponent in the general election, a job in return for his endorsement.
Skaggs sent an email to Orman shortly after the general election saying Webb had made that offer. Orman and Skaggs said they had a couple emails exchanged before Orman sent the allegations to the Federal Bureau of Investigations.
Mayor Bob McCaslin will retire after 12 years as the city’s leader. Orman will take the helm Jan. 1. The mayor’s position is a four-year term and pays an annual salary of $132,954.