Michael Trapp has won the Second Ward seat on the Columbia City Council, taking 44 percent of the vote to Bill Pauls' 36 percent and Mike Atkinson's 20 percent.Trapp and supporters gathered at The Rome restaurant in Downtown Columbia to watch the election results roll in. Atkinson was present to concede and congratulate Trapp when the final results were announced to an uproar of cheers and applause.
Trapp and Atkinson praised each other for a clean campaign. Atkinson says he will not run again saying he now understands the time commitment it takes to campaign. Atkinson is a co-owner of the Candy Factory downtown and says that was always to be his full-time job.
Trapp says a dedicated door-to-door door-knocking effort helped him to connect with the voters of the Second Ward. He says he knocked on 2,750 doors.
"It really invested me in the community," Trapp says. "I got to meet people and hear their concerns and I got to physically see every back street and every place in the ward."
Trapp campaigned heavily on the improvement of city streets.