KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Sly James was re-elected to a second term as Kansas City mayor in an election with extremely low voter turnout. Unofficial returns show the 63-year-old James was elected Tuesday with just 34,000 people voting. Turnout was 8 percent in Platte and Clay counties and 13 percent in Kansas City south of the Missouri River. He won 87 percent of the vote over Vincent Lee, who didn't mount a visible campaign. The Kansas City Star reports that the low turnout will thwart James' effort to make it harder to promote petition initiatives, which require just 5 percent of the mayoral turnout. That means petition organizers will need to collect about 1,700 signatures. Two city council incumbents were defeated, meaning most council members will be new when they take office August 1.
