North Miami’s lively election ending with trio of runoffs

The lively election antics in North Miami are not quite over yet.

With of 23 of 30 precincts reporting, the mayoral race and two council races appeared to be headed to a runoff June 4, with no candidate receiving 50 percent plus one of the vote, according to unofficial results.

The mayoral runoff was likely to be between Lucie Tondreau and Kevin Burns. Tondreau, a Haitian community activist, captured 27.5 percent of the votes; Burns, a former North Miami mayor, received 33.2 percent.

In District 2, incumbent Michael Blynn lost his seat. The race will go to a runoff between Carol Keys, who received 49.5 percent of the votes, and Mary Irvin, who received 26.4 percent of the votes.

In District 3, political newcomer Philippe Bien-Aime will head to a runoff with Jacques Despinosse, a former city councilman. Bien-Aime received 41.3 percent of the votes, compared with Despinosse, who received 27.4 percent.

Voters also approved all five charter questions on the ballot. As a result:

Despite some lively campaigning for mayor and city council, North Miami polls opened Tuesday to a slow trickle of voters.

At the Sunkist Grove Community Center, campaign workers outnumbered voters.

The campaign featured some unusual turns.

Candidate Anna Pierre, who had previously said she was a victim of Vodou sorcery, recently posted a flier on Facebook saying she was endorsed by Jesus. She failed to make the runoff.

District 2 council candidate Joseph Haber was passing out “clean up city hall” soap to voters. And a week ago, mayoral candidate Jean Marcellus was punched in the mouth by an acquaintance who didn’t want him to run for office. He didn’t make the runoff either.

This story was originally published May 14, 2013 at 11:20 AM with the headline "North Miami’s lively election ending with trio of runoffs."