Former City Councilman Peter Murphy holds a news conference announcing his challenge of the ruling over the District 9 City Council race on Monday. The Hamilton County Election Commission ruled last week that he had lost the March 5 city election to Yusuf Hakeem.Councilman Peter Murphy said Tuesday that he and a band of District 9 residents plan on filing a lawsuit to force a runoff election.
He just doesn’t know when.
“I’m not entirely certain at this moment,” he said. “It will be soon.”
Murphy had sent a letter to the Hamilton County Election Commission on Monday telling the commission it should authorize a runoff for the district, which the election commission says Yusuf Hakeem won by six votes.
Election Commission Attorney Chris Clem promptly sent Murphy an email Tuesday morning. He told Murphy the councilman had two options: accept the results of the March 5 city election or file a lawsuit.