Ozark Mayor Mark Blankenship, who in 2023 faced censure from his city council, lost Tuesday to challenger Charles Ward, director of public safety.

Blankenship got just 30 percent of the vote after a term marked by his continued turbulent exchanges with citizens, particularly Bryant Fontenot, that led to his 2023 censure.

The 2023 censure vote was 3-2 and the two council members who voted against censure, Leah Harlow and Stanley Emfinger, were also defeated at the polls on Tuesday in favor of Caitlyn Cummings and Bryan Macario.

Blankenship’s troubles began in 2023 after he threatened to defund the Ozark-Dale County Public Library if it did not remove all LGBTQ+ books from the teen section, leading resident Adam Kamerer to initiate a public records request of the mayor and library board’s

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