Courtesy of Don Gosney, I provide final results below for the Richmond City Council election. The big difference in these numbers are that they include the provisional ballots deposited on election day.

Nat Bates took a giant leap forward, setting a new record for most votes of any other person running in a Richmond City Council election (see below for numbers). Despite being the most popular person in Richmond history, based on votes, Bates received votes from only 43.65% of the voters who cast Richmond ballots.

Gary Bell closed Tom Butt’s lead over him, and Eduardo inched closer to Gary Bell.

While the numbers may have changed, the outcome remains the same.

By year, here are the top vote earners and their count:

2012    Nat Bates                    13,592
2008    Jeff Ritterman             12,108
2004    Tom Butt                     11,727
2006    Jim Rogers                 9,295
2001    Maria Viramontes       8,834
2010    Corky Booze              8,426
1997    Irma Anderson            7,899
1999    Mindell Penn               6,957

Comparisons are being made about the voter turnout in this election as compared with the previous election where Barack Obama was on the ticket.  The total count for Council members is 76,163 this year as compared to 75,044 for 2008.  There were 10 candidates on the ballot in 2008 and 11 this year.