A single vote decides St. Cloud Council runoff
Local, state and federal election races in the upcoming November general election are now set, but close races for School Board District 3 and St. Cloud City Council Seat 5 from the Aug. 18 primary required a voting recount on Saturday—with the St. Cloud race needing a hand recount that came down to a single vote.
Alex Rodriguez, one of three political newcomers in the St. Cloud race who’s admitted to running a small-budget “unconventional race,” will face former St. Cloud Police deputy chief Kirk Zilke in November, who garnered 40.3% percent of the vote, after advancing through the primary by the smallest margin possible.
The tally from last Tuesday, a night in which Rodriguez trailed opponent Jim Moore through the early counts and didn’t take his slim lead until the last precinct was counted, showed Rodriguez with 2,426 votes (29.86%) to Jim Moore’s 2,423 (29.83%). That small margin first triggered a state-mandated machine recount of ballots, then a hand count of those marked as “overvoted” or “undervoted” by machines. The lead waffled from two to four, and then down to one very-important vote at the end of the process.
“Saturday was nerve-wracking, but it became very emotional when they made it official,” he said. “I heard from people who got up off their couches and went out after 6 p.m. (on election day) to go vote. The story that every vote counts is true.” Rodriguez collected and only spent about $1,000, with much coming from family and his own pocket, while his opponents spent six and 15 times that.
“We didn’t have any signs, we just went out and met people where they were. You’ll see signs now, and I’m working on my website as we speak,” he said this week. “We’re right back to work.”
In the School Board race, Alyssa Noel and Natalie Guzman were nearly tied after early voting and mail-in ballot tallies were posted shortly after the polls closed last week, but Noel finished the night up 28 votes (3,600 to 3,572). Their recount showed the same result, allowing Noel to finally enjoy her victory Saturday.
So, aside from the Zike-Rodriguez runoff, here are the races you’ll find on your November ballots in Osceola County. (The News-Gazette will detail the state constitutional amendments and local charter propositions as we get their ballot text:
Kissimmee City Commission Seat 4: Tiffany Jeffers, Janette Martinez (incumbent); non-partisan race
Osceola County Commission District 2: Olga Gonzalez (Republican), Viviana Janer (Democrat, incumbent)
Osceola County Commission District 4: Donald Shroyer (R), Mary Downey (D)
State Legislature District 35: Erika Booth (R, incumbent), Eric Gray (D)
State Legislature District 46: Michael Cruz (R), Jose Alvarez (D, incumbent), Dr. Ivan Rivera (NPA)
U.S. Congressional District 9: Dan Green (R), Darren Soto (D, incumbent)
U.S. Senator: Ashley Moody (R, incumbent), Angie Nixon (D), Neil Gillespie (NPA)
Governor: Byron Donalds (R), David Jolly (D), Scott Eckhard Jewett (Libertarian)
Chief Financial Officer: Blaise Ingoglia (R), Annette Taddeo (D)
Agriculture Commissioner: Wilton Simpson (R, incumbent), Joey Mendoza Atkins (D)
Attorney General: James Uthmeier (R, incumbent), Jose Javier Rodriguez (D)
