2023 Oneida Election

The 2023 Town of Oneida municipal election was held Saturday, November 4, 2023. Mayor and all four alderman seats were on the ballot.

The 2023 election was significant because an incumbent mayor was not on the ballot for the first time in decades. Long-time incumbent Jack E. Lay retired after 28 years in office. Originally elected in 1995 and subsequently re-elected six times, stepped aside as the longest-tenured mayor in the town’s history.

Mayoral candidates

Three candidates were on the 2024 ballot for mayor: Harold Brooks, Bruce Mays, and Lori Phillips-Jones.

Brooks was an Oneida businessman and former candidate for both city mayor and county mayor.

Mays was an employee of the Town of Oneida Street Department who was elected to the Board of Aldermen in 2015. He subsequently resigned due to a state law prohibiting town employees from serving on the board.

Phillips-Jones was a current alderman and a former 8th Judicial District Attorney General. She was also a past member of the Oneida Special School District Board of Education.

Alderman candidates

There were six candidates for alderman: Mark Byrd, Rick Harper, Dusty Lewallen, Tobey Mays, Dakota Smith and Jeff Tibbals.

Byrd and Mays were incumbents. Byrd as a pharmacist who owned Mark’s Family Pharmacy. Mays was completing his first term on the board after winning election in 2019.

Harper was an educator with the Oneida Special School District, and a former principal at both Oneida High School and Oneida Elementary School.

Lewallen was an employee of the Scott County School System.

Smith was a telecommunications worker with Highland Telephone Cooperative.

Tibbals was a former alderman, and also a two-term former Scott County mayor.

Incumbent aldermen Lori Phillips-Jones and Allison Mays were not seeking re-election to the board. Phillips-Jones was instead running for mayor, while Mays was choosing to step aside after two terms as alderman. Her husband, Bruce Mays, was also running for mayor.

Election Dates

Election Day was Saturday, November 4, 2023. Early voting ran from October 16 through October 30. The deadline to register to vote was October 15 at 4:30pm.

Public Forum

On September 30, 2023 the Independent Herald announced a first-of-its kind televised candidate forum to allow candidates to speak to voters. The forum was held Monday, October 9, 2023, at 6:00pm.

Results

Lori Phillips-Jones was elected mayor. Mark Byrd was re-elected to the board of aldermen. Joining him were Rick Harper, Dakota Smith and Jeff Tibbals.

MAYOR
Lori Phillips-Jones – 545 (59.5%)
Bruce Mays – 342 (37.3%)
Harold Brooks – 27 (3.0%)
Write-in – 2

ALDERMAN
Rick Harper – 606 (21.4%)
Dakota Smith – 587 (17.2%)
Mark Byrd – 469 (16.6%)
Jeff Tibbals – 457 (16.2%)
Tobey Mays – 456 (16.1%)
Dusty Lewallen – 349 (12.3%)
Write-In – 6

Turnout

Total voter turnout was 39.5%, with 920 of the town’s 2,329 registered voters casting ballots. Of those, 177 voted on Election Day, and 743 voted early (706 in person and 37 by paper ballot).