SEAFORD — Two incumbents — Mayor David Genshaw and councilman Dan Henderson — and challenger Jose Santos emerged victorious Saturday in the city of Seaford’s 2020 municipal election punctuated by majority absentee voting.

Mayor Genshaw turned back the mayoral challenge of current city councilman James King by a 317 to 270 vote margin.

“We had a great turnout for a small town election. I’m pleased what everybody did to make this happen and get it done,” said Mayor Genshaw.

In the close race for two council seats, Mr. Santos and Mr. Henderson outpolled Alan Cranston. Santos drew 376 votes, Henderson garnered 374 and Cranston received 289.

Council terms in Seaford are three years. The mayoral post is a two-year term.

Seats on council up for election were those held by Mr. Henderson and William Mulvaney, who did not seek another term.

Mr. King, while unsuccessful in his mayoral bid, will retain his seat on city council.

Mayor Genshaw, first elected to council in 2012, has served as Seaford mayor since the 2014 election in which he was unopposed. He had served as acting mayor the previous year when Mayor William Bennett vacated the mayor’s seat to accept employment with the city’s electrical department.

Mayor Genshaw won re-election in 2018 by a wide margin, by more than 300 votes.

Mr. Henderson currently serves as Seaford’s vice mayor. Mr. Santos, who was unsuccessful in a previous run for council, has served on city planning and zoning and also the 911 Committee.

“I’m very happy that councilman Henderson was re-elected,” said Mayor Genshaw. “He has done really hard work on city council. He’s just a great leader and has been just incredible support to me in getting some of the things we have needed to get done. Without him, along with the rest of the council, we couldn’t get the things done.”

“Jose, I’ve known for couple years when he ran the first time and lost. I believe our council needs diversity. He is a young guy. He loves Seaford. His family lives in Seaford,” Mayor Genshaw said. “I am looking forward to having Jose be part of city council.”

A total of 594 ballots were cast of which 350 were through absentee voting in the election, which was postponed from April 18 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This was a long election just because the pandemic hit, and it pushed the election back a month. So, this election has gone on longer than any I have participated in. I announced to run in December, so this has been the longest campaign I’ve ever been a part of,” said Mayor Genshaw.

To accommodate voters with concerns about being out in public during COVID-19, the city emphasized voting by absentee ballot.

“A lot of the public was concerned about the election and the board of election made a wise decision to move forward. They were thinking that people were concerned, but certainly by the turnout we had, people were not concerned at all,” said Mayor Genshaw, noting more than 200 people cast their ballots at city hall. “And those that had any concern, which was a very large portion, and wished to participate did it through absentee votes.”

After a two-week period to accommodate any challenge, the three winners will be sworn in for their terms at the first council meeting in June.

Mr. Mulvaney, who had planned to retire from council in April, will remain on as a council member for Seaford’s next council session.