They didn’t sweep the race, but candidates backed by the “smart-growth” Progressive Lawrence Campaign earned enough support Tuesday to control the Lawrence City Commission for the near future.

“It might give us a chance to restore the balance,” said second-place finisher Dennis “Boog” Highberger.

Mike Rundle and Highberger, both backed by the Progressive Lawrence Campaign, took the top two slots with 11,644 and 10,197 votes, respectively.

They will be joined on the commission by Lynn Goodell, who leapfrogged Progressive candidate David Schauner into third place with 9,656 votes after finishing fourth in the February primary.

The top two vote-getters take four-year terms on the commission. Goodell, in third place, will serve two years. They take office next week.

Rundle and Highberger will join incumbent Commissioner David Dunfield in creating a new “smart-growth” majority on the City Commission, after years of majorities backed by and friendlier to the city’s development interests.

Record turnout

Hotly contested races for City Commission and Lawrence School Board, paired with a contentious school bond issue proposal, pushed voter turnout to a record high.

According to unofficial results from the Douglas County Clerk, about 25,000, or slightly more than 45 percent, of registered voters cast ballots. The previous high for a city-school election was in 1995, when nearly 37 percent of voters turned out.

If tradition holds, Dunfield, Rundle and Highberger will be the next three mayors of Lawrence — starting Tuesday. That will give the trio a chance to lock up city appointments to the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission, where many contentious growth issues get their first hearing.

Planning Commissioner Ron Durflinger cast his vote early Tuesday at Mustard Seed Church. He voted with an eye on planning issues.

“I think this is probably the most important local election that we’ve had in the past 20 years, as far as I know,” Durflinger said. “The city commissioners that are elected will have a large impact on the future of economic development in Lawrence.”

Other issues likely to get a favorable revisiting from the new commission: a proposed “living wage” ordinance and beefing up standards for floodplain development.

“I don’t think it’s going to be anything dramatic, overnight,” Rundle said. “The new commissioners have a learning curve to scale.”

Those issues helped bring the Progressive Lawrence candidates to power, however.

Rhea Miller, a social worker who voted at Lawrence Public Library, said she voted for all three Progressive Lawrence candidates.

“I know they’re for the living wage,” she said. “I think people should get paid enough to support their families.”

A prediction

Goodell will join Mayor Sue Hack in what will probably be the two-vote minority on the commission. Leaving the commission will be Marty Kennedy and Jim Henry. Goodell said he didn’t anticipate antagonism on the new commission.

“I think it depends on the issues,” he said. “Sometimes it will be OK, and sometimes it won’t. All five commissioners are level-headed people. I think we can work together and get the job done.”

Losing Tuesday were Schauner with 9,443 votes, Lee Gerhard with 8,486 votes and Greg DiVilbiss with 7,577 votes.

¢ See the election results¢ City commission precinct-by-precinct vote for city commission race interactive map¢ 6News video: Goodell takes third city seat¢ 6News video: Highberger ready for new job¢ 6News video: Polls see high number of voters¢ Photos from the courthouse¢ Voters turn out in record numbers¢ Record sums raised; turnout dilutes per-vote cost¢ Mayor’s address puts children’s needs in focus

“I think we addressed a lot of important issues,” Schauner said. “I think the neighborhoods have a better say on the commission.”

“We gave people a choice,” Gerhard said. “They made a choice. That’s how the democratic process works.”

Schauner and DiVilbiss said they might run for commission again.

Supported by the new Progressive Lawrence Campaign political action committee, Rundle, Highberger and Schauner took the top three spots in the February primary. That prompted creation of an opposing PAC, Truth for a Better Lawrence, which called the Progressive candidates “no-growth” advocates and backed their opponents.

Rundle said the commission would prove naysayers wrong.

“We’ll find out right away,” he said, “that business doesn’t tank in Lawrence as predicted.”