The most experienced politicians in the race — Mike Amyx, Sue Hack and David Schauner — took the top three spots Tuesday in a City Commission primary marked by low voter turnout.

“I don’t think there were enough voters to send any type of message tonight,” Hack said.

Lawrence City Commission candidate Mike Amyx, left, is congratulated by Lawrence City Commissioner Boog Highberger as John Mitchell, a Lawrence school board candidate, looks on. Amyx garnered the most votes among the nine candidates in the primary election Tuesday.

Amyx, a former two-term city commissioner and one-term Douglas County Commissioner, garnered 19 percent of the vote, or 4,599 tallies. Hack and Schauner, the only two incumbents seeking re-election, finished second and third, respectively, with 3,736 and 3,549 votes.

They were joined in the general election by Tom Bracciano finished fourth with 3,483 votes; Jim Carpenter, fifth with 2,969; and George Grieb with 2,274. The remaining three candidates — Doug Holiday, Greg Robinson and David Holroyd — brought up the rear of the field and will not move onto the general election.

But a voter turnout of just 16 percent left candidates scratching their heads about whether the results would be a good predictor of who would finish on top after the April 5 general election. That election will determine the winners of the three at-large seats on the commission.

Talk among observers during the vote-counting Tuesday, however, strongly focused on how a statewide constitutional amendment to ban gay marriages would affect the turnout for the general election.

“I think it means a lot more students will come out to vote than normal,” Carpenter said. “Whether they will know who to vote for in the City Commission race is another matter.”

Richard Lungstrum, Lawrence, enters a voting booth at the Lawrence Senior Center, 745 Vt. Voters cast their ballots Tuesday in Lawrence for the City Commission primary, though turnout was only estimated at 16 percent.

Amyx said he was convinced voters were drawn to his message of more jobs, more budgetary control at City Hall and that new income from growth should be invested in to maintaining older neighborhoods.

Tuesday’s low voter turnout, though was a concern both to voters and candidates.

“I heard the polls weren’t very busy, and I think that sucks,” said Stu Harwood, owner of Stu’s Midtown Tavern, who placed a voter guide on the wall of his bar telling customers where candidates stood on the city’s smoking ban. “I think that’s pathetic. There are a lot of issues and things in the city that need to be taken care of.”

No ‘hot button’

Schauner said he thought the lack of a “hot-button” issue was to blame for the low voter turnout. The smoking ban was expected to be that issue but received little attention at many forums or campaign events. Schauner said his campaign would focus on growth and development issues that are at stake.

“The way the city looks in the future will be decided by the next commission,” Schauner said. “I’ll be dead and gone before the decisions we make in the next term fade away.”

Most candidates said they were just happy to move onto the general election. Bracciano said he expected campaigning efforts to become more aggressive.

“I’m not sure how many people really heard the campaigns,” Bracciano said.

The Journal-World's primary voting guide is posted at Stu's Midtown Tavern, 925 Iowa. The Lawrence City Commission candidates who support changes to the city's public smoking ban were spared a no on their profile.

Down, but not out

Sixth-place finisher George Grieb also was not counting himself out of the race. He said he was encouraged by the finish given that he entered the race only 30 minutes before the filing deadline in late January.

“We have five weeks or so before the general election,” Grieb said. “That is like three years to this campaign.”

The three candidates who failed to advance were the three candidates who raised the least amount of money in the campaign. All three said that wasn’t a coincidence. Holiday and Robinson both said the city should consider placing limits on the amount of money candidates can spend.

“I don’t think all the people of Lawrence are getting heard with the current system,” Holiday said.

For Amyx, the top spot represented a successful return to politics after his last term on the Douglas County Commission ended more than 10 years ago.

“I felt the same way I did 15 years ago,” Amyx, a downtown barber shop owner, said. “You still get that nervousness inside you.”

— Staff writer Alicia Henrikson contributed to this story.

6News video: Amyx leads commission candidates | Audio 6News video: Commission veteran comes in second | Audio 6News video: Schauner places third in primary | Audio 6News video: Bracciano comes in fourth in primary | Audio 6News video: Carpenter advances to general election | Audio 6News video: Turnout low for 2005 primary Basehor election wraps up quickly Primary election results Precinct-by-precinct results