Dempsey cost Lattimore re-election

Our mayoral race is finally over and it's official: no hanging chads but absentee ballots were required. The new Auburn mayor is former fire chief Michael Quill.

The race was close, with Democrat Quill edging out incumbent Republican Mayor Tim Lattimore by only 92 votes. We've all heard that David Dempsey, who ran on the Independence ticket, took votes away from Quill.

This thinking is because Dempsey was on city council as a Democrat, so he took votes away from the Democratic candidate. The Democratic party pleaded with Dempsey not to continue his candidacy after he lost the primary. It was generally believed every vote that Dempsey got would come from someone who would have voted for Quill.