Kim Ecklund defeated incumbent Mayor Eddie Sundquist for Jamestown city mayor. P-J photo by Christopher Blakesless

Kim Ecklund, who on the campaign trail touted her expertise in finances, cashed in Tuesday night to solidify the Republicans’ growing hold on the Jamestown City Council.

Ecklund, a Republican, defeated incumbent Democratic Mayor Eddie Sundquist for the city’s top elected post by a vote of 2,413 to 2,204. The results are not yet official.

In securing victory, Ecklund becomes only the second woman ever elected mayor of Jamestown after Carolyn Gifford Seymour served one, two-year term in 1992.

“I appreciate the people coming out to vote for me. I truly appreciate the support,” Ecklund told The Post-Journal shortly after the results from the county Board of Elections indicated she won. “To those who didn’t vote for me, I hope we can all still work together.”

Ecklund said she “still has a job to do” as an at-large member of the City Council. That includes further review of Sundquist’s 2024 budget plan that is scheduled for a vote Nov. 27.

“Going forward we have to determine what’s next for the city,” said Ecklund, who joked her first task will be to remove all of her campaign signs.

The last Republican elected mayor of Jamestown was Richard Kimball, who served from 1994 to 2000. Only seven Republicans have been mayor in the city’s history, with only three being elected since 1938.

Ecklund’s victory also is historic in that she becomes the first Republican woman ever to serve as mayor of the county’s largest city. She was first elected to the Jamestown City Council in 2004.

Sundquist had hoped his accomplishments as mayor in the last four years would propel him to re-election. He took office in January 2020, mere months before the arrival of a global pandemic.

The lawyer-turned-politician, who set his sights on City Hall after an unsuccessful Congressional bid, followed fellow Democrat Sam Teresi, who left the mayor’s office after 20 years.

“Unfortunately, the results weren’t what we were expecting,” Sundquist told The Post-Journal. “It is unfortunate, but I’m proud that we fought like hell for the people of Jamestown. I think we did a lot of great things in the last four years.”