UPDATE: WMDT speaks to Matt James after OC Mayoral race win

OCEAN CITY, Md. – The Town of Ocean City has released their municipal election results, announcing that Matt James has defeated incumbent Rick Meehan in the race for mayor.

Officials say James received a total of 1438 votes while Meehan received 1136 votes. James’ win follows a political controversy just days prior to the election, in which a political flyer accused him of using Maryland State Police resources for his political campaign. Town officials have since clarified the situation.

Matt James told WMDT he plans to get right to work in the mayoral seat.

“So for me, I’m excited to get started, looking forward to it.” Said James. “And I think first order of business is going to be working on the relationships, maybe building on the ones we have and making some new ones along the way.”

The win unseats long-time Mayor Rick Meehan, who has served as Ocean City’s mayor since 2006.

Additionally, Billy Apostolou, Larry Noccolino and Carol Proctor were all elected to the City Council. The fourth candidate, Wayne Johnson, received the least amount of votes and was not elected to Council. The official tallies were as follows: 

Image Courtesy of Town of Ocean City

The Town says the Mayor, together with the newly elected council members and the incumbent council members will meet at 7:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall on the Thursday, November 5, for an organizational meeting. At the organizational meeting, the Council members will elect a Council President and Council Secretary.

To learn more about the race between James and Meehan, view WMDT’s coverage of their race here.

This article was originally published on Nov. 3 at 9:13 p.m., and has since been updated with vote totals and quotes.