While Cheryl Grieb's campaign to remain on the Osceola County Commission is over, two men will continue their quests for a St. Cloud city seat for another nine weeks.
Grieb won the district 4 open primary among all district voters, garnering 3,628 votes (48.38%) to Kissimmee businesswoman Jackie Espinosa (2,919, 39%) and former Kissimmee commissioner Carlos Irizarry (952, 12.7%).
"I'm glad to have this race over, and glad the citizens chose to allow me to continue the work we're doing in the county for our citizens," Grieb said. "I'm happy and relieved, it's been a tough race.
In St. Cloud, Shawn Fletcher (2,728 votes, 36.75%) and Jeffrey Rivera (1,682, 22.66%) — who has spent a grand total of $161 on his campaign entering Tuesday — are the top two vote-getters and will face off in the Nov. 8 primary. Stephanie Chmielewski (1,521) and Chris Ladas-Drake (1,492) were third and fourth in the closely packed race.
Rivera, an entrepreneur in the medical field, who has run for County Commission and School Board seats previously, said he expected to continue to be campaigning after Tuesday.
"Didn't think we'd get the 51 percent to win it, but I felt confident," he said. "I've been in local politics for a while, been on the Planning Commission, people know me on a personal level and what I'm capable of doing for the city. Now it's really time to present myself, people will hear a lot more from me and step it up a notch. Not much will change. I just want to let the people of St. Cloud know I'll be a true voice."
Fletcher previously served on St. Cloud's Planning Commission and served with multiple Osceola County departments.
"I'm thankful for those who gave us their support to see through to Nov. 8," he said. "We're very happy with the result. It's going to be an interesting race against Jeff, we're going to need to get right back out there Wednesday."
They will be joined on the November ballot by Ken Gilbert and Tom Lord, who are campaigning for the seat 4 race.
