Defeats Cleary, 53-47, percent in runoff

“You did a great job,” Ironton Mayor Sam Cramblit II said to challenger Amanda Cleary, hugging her after election results were announced Tuesday night.

After two days of voting in the mayoral runoff, Cramblit defeated Cleary, 52.7-47.3 percent.

Results came about a half hour after voting, with both candidates awaiting them at the Lawrence County Board of Elections office in Ironton, where Randy Lambert, of the board, announced the winner.

Cramblit, who will be starting his second term as mayor, ran against Cleary, executive director of nonprofit Third and Center, in a crowded field of five candidates, which also included city council member Chris Perry, Ohio state treasurer field representative Kelly Greco-Smith and deacon and former council member Hugh Scott.

Cramblit led in Election Day results, but, at 34.86 percent of the vote, did not reach the 40 percent threshold to avoid a runoff and faced second place finisher Cleary, who won 30.21 percent, in this week’s election.

Cramblit, who said his nerves were on edge as he awaited results, said he can now finally think beyond the election. He congratulated Cleary, who he said ran “a great campaign.”

Cramblit won 1.096 votes to Cleary’s 984.

Turnout was 29.49 percent of voters, slightly lower than the last mayoral runoff election, which took place in 2016, in which Katrina Keith defeated Bob Cleary. Turnout in that election was 31.43 percent.