Opinion sought in Ely primary outcome

Wednesday, May 5, 1999 | 3:34 a.m.

Dunton received 57.8 percent of the votes cast in a three-way race. His closest challenger was former mayor George Chachas, who received 29.4 percent.

State law allows that in cities of 5,000 people or more, a candidate who wins more than 50 percent of the vote in a primary is the only one to advance to the general election.

Jay Barrett and David Provost were the top two vote getters in the Seat 2 contest. Barrett received 48.6 percent of the vote, while Provost got 32.4 percent.

Barrett, however, on Wednesday questioned the need for a runoff in June. He argued that while he only got 48.6 percent of votes cast in the overall election, he won a majority of votes cast in his race.

City officials were researching the issue.

In the mayor's race, Randy Conner will square off against Robert Miller in the general. Conner received 35.6 percent of votes, compared with Miller's 34.8 percent.

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