Dan Clodfelter officially asks for runoff

Charlotte Mayor Dan Clodfelter made it official Monday morning: formally asking for an Oct. 6 runoff against Jennifer Roberts in Charlotte’s Democratic mayoral primary.

Last Tuesday Roberts led the primary with 35.8 percent of the vote. But she fell short of the 40 percent needed to avoid a second primary.

Clodfelter finished second with 25.8 percent, edging City Council member David Howard by 643 votes.

“The strong momentum that put us over the finish line last Tuesday has intensified in the past week,” Clodfelter said in a statement Monday. “The enthusiasm just keeps growing. We are well poised to win this race on October 6th.”

Clodfelter had announced that he’d file his request Tuesday, but realized the board of elections couldn’t begin issuing absentee ballots until he’d formally requested the second primary.

Election officials said 160 ballots had been requested by late morning. Absentee ballots can be requested through 5 p.m. Sept. 29.

Roberts’ campaign manager alluded to Clodfelter’s action in a Monday morning fundraising request. Jacob Becklund called the former Mecklenburg commissioner the clear frontrunner, and not only in the primary.

“Jennifer is the decided favorite heading into November’s General Election,” he wrote. “However, her last remaining primary opponent has announced his intention to file for a runoff tomorrow, forcing a two-week sprint to an October 6th election.”

The three-member board of elections is scheduled to meet Tuesday to canvass votes from the first primary and set early voting guidelines for the runoff.

This story was originally published September 21, 2015 at 11:22 AM with the headline "Dan Clodfelter officially asks for runoff."