Democrat RJ Neary will challenge Republican incumbent Jean Stothert in the May 11 mayoral election.

The Douglas County Election Commission released updated unofficial results last Friday after counting about 12,000 absentee ballots for the April 6 city primary election. The top two candidates – Neary and Stohert – advance to the general election on May 11.

Stothert, who is seeking a third term, received 47,966 votes out of a total 85,096. Neary, a commercial real estate broker, received 13,162 votes, edging out Democrat Jasmine Harris’ 11,993 votes.

Stothert’s total votes earned her 57% of the vote, while Neary and Harris were 16% and 14%, respectively.

Two other candidates and two write-ins also sought the opportunity to advance.

“I am so excited to continue sharing my path forward with voters over the next five weeks,” Neary tweeted in a statement.

The election commission plans to canvass the votes Friday and make the results official.

For the Omaha City Council races, District 2 saw a close contest between Democrats Juanita Johnson and Jonathan Lathan to compete against incument Democrat Ben Gray. Gray received 2,615 votes to Johnson’s 1,502 and Lathan’s 1,434. Gray and Johnson will advance to the May election.

In District 5, Republican Don Rowe and Democrat Patrick Leahy finished in the top places, with about 19% of the vote. Kathleen Kauth trailed in third with 18% of the overall vote.

District 7 is separated by just 53 votes between Republican Aimee Melton receiving 7,116 votes and Democrat Sara Kohen has 7,063.

Incumbent Pete Festersen will face Sarah Johnson. In District 3, incumbent Vinny Palermo will face Becky Barrientos-Patlan. The District 6 race features incumbent Brinker Harding and Naomi Hattaway.

The city elections are officially nonpartisan. For more, visit omahadailyrecord.com/election.