Bracey claims win in York, Helfrich sees path to November
York city Mayor Kim Bracey is all smiles outside of her headquarters after it was announced that she won the primary on Tuesday May 16, 2017. (Photo: Jason Plotkin, York Daily Record)
Mayor Kim Bracey was seeking a third term against challenger Michael Helfrich, the City Council president
(York) — York Mayor Kim Bracey narrowly won the Democratic primary Tuesday, but her opponent, city council president Michael Helfrich believed he would also be on the ballot this fall.
When all city precincts had been counted shortly after 11 p.m., Bracey led with 1,463 votes over Helfrich’s 1,144 — a margin of just 319 votes.
Helfrich conceded the Democratic primary late Tuesday, but said that with write-in votes for him from some Republican voters, he believed he had enough to secure a place on the fall ballot as a GOP candidate. The county reported 320 Republican write-in votes. The names cast won’t be known for about a week. There was no Republican on the primary ballot for mayor.
Bracey spoke publicly about her victory when fewer than half the precincts had reported and before Helfrich had offered any concession. In fact, half an hour after she claimed victory, he remained upbeat and said, “The game isn’t over yet. It’s halftime.”
Bracey offered several thoughts as to why voters backed her for a third term as mayor:
- “They wanted to see more of what we said we were going to do.”
- “You can’t beat the fact that property taxes and crime are going down.”
- Bracey said she also wants to keep lowering the crime rate. “One shooting, one crime is too many,” she said.
Voters faced a choice between an incumbent who pointed to positive changes under her watch and a challenger who promised to make city government more responsive.
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