Dead mayor advances to runoff in Oklahoma

A popular mayor up for reelection in Edmond, Okla., has advanced to an April runoff, two months after he died.

Mayor Charles Lamb was 72 years old when he died in December, a day after complaining of a cold. First elected in 2011, he was running for a third term in Edmond, an Oklahoma City suburb of about 81,000 residents.

{mosads}On Tuesday, Lamb finished second in an initial round of balloting, taking almost 33 percent of the vote. He will advance to an April 2 runoff against Dan O’Neil, a former Edmond mayor who finished first with 56 percent of the vote. A third candidate finished with 11 percent.

Some Edmond residents have been promoting Lamb’s candidacy as a way to block O’Neil from serving another term. If Lamb were to win the runoff, the city council would choose his replacement.

O’Neil told The Oklahoman he would reach out to those voters in hopes of convincing them he would govern like his predecessor.