There was a chance the race for the open spot on the Selma City Council representing Ward 3 would come to an end Tuesday. City officials had hoped it would end, candidates had hoped it would end; even voters had hoped it would come to an end.

But, with eight candidates vying for the seat, the chances for a July 5 runoff were quite high and, shortly after 7 p.m., as the votes were being read, a runoff was not just very likely, it was assured.

According to unofficial results, the runoff election will pit candidates Greg Bjelke and Gwen Brown against one another. Although Bjelke is firmly seated in the runoff with 37 percent of Tuesday’s vote total, Brown’s position is not as solid.

“At this point, we still have to go through quite a number of provisional ballots that were filled out during the day,” Selma City Clerk Ivy Harrison said. “With the second and third place candidates so close, the positions could very well change.”

Bjelke received 270 votes, while Brown received 149 votes. The third place candidate was Karl Lewis, who received 136 votes.

If election officials end up counting more than 13 of the provisional ballots in favor of Lewis, he would become the runoff competitor instead of Brown. But, the fact that any of the provisional ballots will be counted is no guarantee.

Harrison said she and other election officials would work through the ballots this week and announce their findings to the Selma City Council Tuesday, May 31 at noon, when the council must approve the election results.

But in the mean time, Bjelke said he is excited about making it past “round one” and looking forward to more campaigning.

“I would have loved for this race to end tonight, but we are excited about receiving the most number of votes,” Bjelke said. “We have a strong platform to run on. I’m from Selma, lived here all my life. I didn’t just move here four and a half years ago like my opponent.

“Round one was good. Round two is going to be even better.”

Calls made by the Times-Journal to both Gwen Brown and Karl Lewis were not returned Tuesday.

Coming in fourth in the race was former Selma city council member Tom Headley, who finished with 125 votes.

“I am disappointed and need to take some time to put this behind me,” said Headley, who was the first to qualify for the race and the first candidate to begin campaigning. “At this point, I don’t know which of the two candidates I’ll support. I need to take some time to think”

Garfield Clarke received 20 votes, while Sherette Spicer garnered 11 votes. Pam West received seven votes, while David Cothran, who had all but pulled out of the race weeks ago, received three votes.

– Times-Journal reporter Chris Wasson contributed to this report.