Mayor's race goes to Lohr

A return to peace on the Jackson Board of Aldermen will be a top priority for mayor-elect Barbara Lohr, who said Tuesday night she was disappointed by opponent David Reiminger's campaign during the last week of the race.

Lohr defeated Reiminger by 81 votes, winning three of Jackson's four wards. Reiminger won only in Ward 2, which he has represented on the Board of Aldermen for 14 years. Write-in candidate John Graham ran well behind the leaders.

Lohr will be Jackson's first woman mayor and the first mayor to be elected in a race without an incumbent since at least 1973.

During the last week of the campaign, Reim?inger's camp questioned her ethics on a recent controversial board vote. Lohr supported abandoning a planned street in a subdivision proposed by developer Ron Clark. Reiminger and his supporters claimed Lohr should have abstained from voting on the issue since Clark was a contributor to her campaign,

Lohr called for reconciliation during a brief speech to about 80 people gathered at a Jackson banquet hall for her election party. "Everybody who supported me took the high ground," Lohr said. "In spite of the cheap shot of the past few days, we have got to put it behind us."

In an interview after her speech, Lohr said the criticism of her ethics, which included a last-minute yard sign campaign by Reiminger, hurt her. But she said no apology is needed. "I think I am big enough that I can put that in the past," she said.

Lohr received 1,120 votes to 1,039 for Reiminger. Voting machines recorded 154 write-in votes, but it was unclear if all were cast for Graham.

Lohr, who is 69, said she is unlikely to serve as long as Mayor Paul Sander, who has held the office for 14 years, or his predecessor, Carlton "Cotton" Meyer, who was in office for 20 years. "I am sure I won't be staying that long, but I think my stamina and energy level are enough that I won't go out after one term."

Reiminger, who has one year remaining on his current aldermanic term, said he can work with Lohr. "We'll go back to doing the right things. We still need to uphold our ordinances. We still need to do the right things."

Reiminger said he would continue to focus on themes he developed during the campaign, including pushing the city to find cheaper sources of electricity and developing the commercial district that will run along the newly constructed East Main Street.

He wouldn't say whether he would seek another term when his seat comes up for election in 2008. "I'll get to that point when that point comes," he said.

Despite the poor showing, Graham said he will definitely be a candidate in 2009. When filing for office opened in December, Graham was first in line. But he was bumped off the ballot after filing closed when a check of county records showed he was late paying his property taxes for 2006. He sued to regain his spot on the ballot but lost the court case. "The city did everything in their power to keep me off the ballot," Graham said. "Things have got to change. People deserve better representation than what they have had, and that is the sad part of politics. I ain't giving up."

rkeller@semissourian.com

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