photo by: Contributed and Journal-World File Photos

From left, Mike Dever, Brad Finkeldei and Amber Sellers were elected to the Lawrence City Commission on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023.

Story updated at 10:33 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023:

The results of Tuesday’s general election shook out much the same as they did in the August primary for candidates running for three open seats on the Lawrence City Commission — incumbents Brad Finkeldei and Amber Sellers won reelection, and former city commissioner Mike Dever won his bid to return to elected office eight years after his last stint.

As in August, Dever — who served on the City Commission from 2007 to 2015, including two terms as mayor — led the way with the most individual votes, earning 8,277 votes as of 9:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Dever earned more than a thousand votes more than the next-closest candidate, Finkeldei, who earned 7,171 votes and also followed Dever with the second-most votes in the primary.

photo by: Matt Resnick/Journal-World

Douglas County Clerk Jamie Shew, right, chats with Lawrence City Commissioner Brad Finkeldei at the Douglas County Elections Office on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023.

Shortly after all but six of Lawrence’s precincts had reported, when Dever was still leading by over 1,000 votes, he told the Journal-World he felt great about the victory and was proud of the team of volunteers who helped him with his campaign. He said the group was behind the various “VOTE TODAY” yard signs posted around Lawrence on Election Day.

“I don’t know what the numbers are, but it feels pretty good to be at the top and in front right now,” Dever told the Journal-World from 23rd Street Brewery, where he was hosting an Election Day event.

Dever said his immediate focus is on execution; he said the City Commission has worked on multiple plans for tackling development, homelessness and infrastructure, and he thinks the city needs to “jump right in” and act on those plans.

He said that includes coming up with a short-term plan for efforts and resources to assist the homeless, and he added that he wants to ensure city leaders are effectively and transparently communicating their plans to residents.

Finkeldei spoke with the Journal-World from the Douglas County Elections Office and said he appreciated having earned voters’ confidence to serve on the City Commission for another four years. He said he’s looking forward to continuing the work he’s done so far with Sellers, and also to working with Dever.

“Campaigns often fall at inopportune times, in the middle of your work,” Finkeldei said. “Obviously, we’re very heavy in the middle of work on homelessness. We’re certainly right in the middle of the Lawrence (Land) Development Code rewrite. Some of those things we just have to keep pushing on, and I’m looking forward to being able to continue that work.”

The third candidate elected to a seat on the City Commission in Tuesday’s race was Sellers, who had earned 6,386 votes as of 9:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Sellers spoke with the Journal-World about an hour after the final vote count update of the night and said she finds herself in a fortunate position that she doesn’t take lightly.

“The last 48 hours, I was relatively calm, and I can’t say why — I won’t even try to guess why,” Sellers said. “But I think I knew. The campaign, we set out a goal and we accomplished that goal. We did what we knew we needed to do to be successful, and at that point, you leave it to the voters.”

Sellers said she sees the city’s affordable housing issue as an immediate priority for her next term. She said that it’s been an important issue in Lawrence not just for the past several years but for several decades, and that the city needed to think creatively to come up with solutions while also working with stakeholders not just locally but in the state Legislature.

photo by: Austin Hornbostel/Journal-World

Lawrence City Commissioner Amber Sellers speaks with supporters at a campaign event at Art Love Collective on election night Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023.

All three candidates will serve four-year terms on the commission, a change from past City Commission elections. Previously, the candidate who earned the third-most votes was elected to a two-year term, but the terms were standardized for all candidates when city leaders approved putting potential changes to the city’s form of government — including having some seats be elected by districts and a directly elected mayor — on the ballot in November 2024.

Tuesday’s results mean that one of the three incumbents who were vying for reelection, Courtney Shipley, won’t return for a second term on the City Commission. Shipley trailed Sellers by around 450 votes as of 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, having earned 5,942 votes.

The final two of six candidates, newcomers Dustin Stumblingbear and Justine Burton, rounded out the field with 4,336 and 2,802 votes, respectively.