JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC

After running a high-energy primary and general election campaign, Councilman Quinton Lucas easily outdistanced fellow Council member Jolie Justus in the mayor’s race Tuesday night.

With all 125 polling places south of the Missouri River reporting, Lucas had 29,193 votes to 17,010 for Justus.

North of the river, Justus prevailed by a narrow margin but not by nearly enough to offset Lucas’ massive victory south of the river.

Many people had expected Justus do win big north of the river, and the fact that she didn’t shows just how powerful a race Lucas ran.

Lucas will be Kansas City’s third African-American mayor. Current U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II broke that barrier in 1991, defeating then-Councilman Bob Lewellen. Cleaver was re-elected in 1995. Current Mayor Sly James was elected in 2011 and re-elected in 2015.

Indications that Justus, who finished first in the April 2 primary, was in trouble came several weeks ago, when she began sending out negative mailers questioning Lucas’ trustworthiness. Her assertion was he would say one thing and do another.

A week or so ago, a mailer sent out by the carpenters’ union, which, supported Justus, depicted Lucas as an “Uncle Tom type” figure in a photo. Lucas’ eyes were downcast, face sagging and lower lip protruding. Instead of winning votes for Justus, that flyer had the opposite effect, turning some voters away from Justus.

Lucas maintained a high tone until near the end of the campaign, when one or two committees working on his behalf — not his own campaign committee — came out with negative mailers.

Congratulations to Quinton Lucas. He ran a robust campaign and beat a stalwart politician. He has the makings of a very good mayor. He will be sworn in Aug. 1.

…In the closest at-large City Council race, state Rep. Brandon Ellington edged Wallace Hartsfield II by a count of 29,700 to 28,165 in the 3rd District at large. Ellington, who is term limited in the Missouri House of Representatives, survived a nasty mailer that showed him holding a rifle, as a young man, with an image of a Country Club Plaza tower superimposed next to his image.

In other at-large, competitive races, lawyer Andrea Bough easily defeated real estate broker Stacey Johnson-Cosby in the 6th District at large, and incumbent 5th District at-large Councilman Lee Barnes Jr. had no trouble turning back a challenge from Dwayne Williams.

The only issue on the ballot — whether to limit tax abatement on economic development projects to 50 percent — instead of the current 75 percent — went down to a 2-1 defeat.