G.I. Mayor Race Update
GRAND ISLAND – Hall County election results posted at 1:49 a.m. Nov. 4 show a very close race between Grand Island mayor candidates Jimmy Reed and Ryan O’Neill.
Reed received 6,663 votes, compared to 6,395 votes for O’Neill, a 268-vote margin.
According to the Hall County Election Commissioner’s website, 24 of 24 precincts were reporting, with provisional votes outstanding.
Out of 32,931 registered voters, there were 18,408 ballots cast, for a 55.90 percent voter turnout.
O’Neill, 45, is IT manager at Amur Equipment Finance. Reed, 37, is a real estate agent for Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices/Da-Ly Realty.
O’Neill has served eight years on the Hall County Airport Authority Board and is the current chairman. He has served on the Grand Island City Council since 2024 and is this year’s City Council president.
“Real estate moves the world,” Reed said at the Oct. 29 mayoral debate.
At the Oct. 29 mayoral debate, Reed said that if he was elected, he would not keep Patrick Brown as the city administrator. O’Neill said he would retain Brown as city administrator.
Brown was appointed by the City Council as city administrator in September 2025. At the time of his appointment, Brown was chief financial officer, assistant city administrator, and activating finance director/city treasurer. Brown has been with the city since 2018, when he joined as finance director/city treasurer. He has served as assistant city administrator since 2023 prior to his appointment as city administrator.
O’Neill and Reed agreed at the Oct. 29 debate that the city of Grand Island needs a new communications manager as soon as possible.
Concerning public safety, O’Neill said at the Oct. 29 debate that replacing Fire Station 2, built in 1957, is a priority. Reed noted that the Police Department was fully staffed with police officers. He said that the Police Department is an example of where a culture change has occurred.