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Municipal Elections

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March 10, 2021 at 3:36:26 AM

March 9 Municipal Elections: Voters turn out big to send incumbents back to office

All the results from the races in Ocoee, Windermere and Winter Garden. Plus: we have reaction from the re-elected and the newly elected!

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March 8, 2021 at 5:56:44 PM

Turnout is low but vote-by-mail is hugely popular in early voting ahead of Tuesday's election

Early voting results show the big winner in the March 9 election is vote-by-mail

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March 7, 2021 at 4:15:10 PM

Ocoee

'Everyday guy' Keith Richardson seeks to give back to Ocoee, citing traffic and firefighter retention as top issues

Richardson — who said he’s in the race because he wants to give back to Ocoee, which “has been very good to me” — cited road infrastructure and firefighter retention as major issues for the city.

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March 7, 2021 at 4:11:50 PM

Windermere

Bill Martini seeks reelection to Windermere Town Council to continue work on major projects

Seeking reelection, Martini said he has no personal agenda except to represent Windermere residents.

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March 7, 2021 at 4:08:33 PM

Windermere

Michael Hargreaves highlights traffic and maintaining Windermere's quaintness in Town Council race

Hargreaves, who owns a security business, highlighted traffic as a top issue as well as maintaining the dirt roads and quaintness of Windermere as did the other candidates. He also wanted to look into alleged voting irregularities.

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March 7, 2021 at 2:04:43 AM

Winter Garden

He struck out at the county and state levels. Now Bobby O is back to re-claim the District 3 city commission seat he resigned in his quest for higher office

Winter Garden's retail politician talks East Winter Garden, public safety, good ol' boy politics and whether he's in it for keeps this time around or just laying the foundation for a much bigger run.

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March 5, 2021 at 9:06:56 PM

Ocoee

Mom. Nurse. Elementary school teacher. The ultimate caretaker, now Lori Hart is running to take care of District 4

The "EveryMom" candidate on Ocoee's biggest issues, her plans for a vaccine site, and that rumor that Mayor Rusty Johnson urged her to run to split the Black vote.

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March 4, 2021 at 5:10:49 PM

Ocoee

Seeking her 5th term as District 2 commissioner, Rosemary Wilsen brings a social worker's acumen to city government

A true devotee of local government — Wilsen used to attend budget meetings before getting elected — the commissioner Zoomed in to chat about Ocoee's parks, the downtown project and keeping 18-wheelers out of residential areas.

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March 3, 2021 at 3:24:14 PM

Winter Garden

Will Iliana Ramos Jones become the first Latina to represent a district in Winter Garden?

Running for the open seat in District 2, the construction company CFO talks about her campaign, bringing more Hispanics to the decision-making table, and why she didn't show up to that Orlando Sentinel interview with her opponent.

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March 1, 2021 at 1:10:44 AM

Winter Garden

In a tough race, Commissioner Mark Maciel takes the high road

Voted into the District 3 seat his opponent vacated to pursue higher office in 2017, Maciel still has things he wants to do — like annexing pockets of unincorporated Winter Garden into the city and ensuring the Dillard Street revitalization project goes well. But first, he'd like to correct a few things you may have heard.

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February 25, 2021 at 7:09:33 PM

Ocoee

Joel Keller feels perfectly fine and he'd like his job back, please

The former commissioner fought cancer — and won. Now he's ready to return to fighting for the citizens of District 4. We talk zip codes, moving the police firing range, improving morale at the fire department, and why he spends his vacations working for the people of Ocoee.

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February 24, 2021 at 12:16:44 AM

Ocoee

City budget audit proves most divisive issue among Ocoee commission candidates in otherwise friendly political forum

Ocoee City Commission candidates for Districts 2 and 4 grappled with the question of whether the city should be independently audited. It was the biggest sticking point during Monday’s forum where they differed little in their opinions about the city’s needs, growth and direction.

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February 23, 2021 at 1:57:04 AM

Winter Garden

Ron Mueller takes a firm stand against anti-maskers as Winter Garden's Covid-19 cases climb

District 2 city commission candidate pledges to enforce mask mandate at all city-sponsored events

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February 21, 2021 at 11:16:59 PM

Winter Garden

City commission candidate Ron Mueller has lots of ideas for Winter Garden. He just needs to get elected in District 2 first

The U.S. Navy combat vet-turned-agile transformation expert talks about tackling the Dillard Street project, burying unsightly power lines, expanding golf cart range, and why serving on a nuclear submarine is great training for being a city commissioner.

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February 17, 2021 at 11:19:32 PM

Ocoee

Commissioner George Oliver III on reckoning with Ocoee's racialized past and looking to its economic future

Ocoee's first African-American commissioner is up for re-election in District 4. He talks with VoxPopuli about getting developers to give back more to the city, making commissioner a full-time job, and what it takes to really heal after the Ocoee Massacre.

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February 15, 2021 at 3:15:11 AM

Winter Garden

Can incumbent Commissioner Colin Sharman pull out yet another big win?

After 15 years in office, the District 4 city commissioner is ready for a sixth term. Colin Sharman talked with VoxPopuli founding editor Norine Dworkin and reflected on some of his favorite projects, his current priorities and how he leads by example through the Covid-19 pandemic.

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February 12, 2021 at 8:59:15 PM

Windermere

Windermere Town Council candidates discuss traffic, taxes and why 'quaintness' matters so much

Four Windermere Town Council hopefuls — incumbent Bill Martini, Mandy David, Tony Davit and Michael Hargreaves — presented their views on a range of issues including traffic, taxes, dirt roads and public water during Wednesday's 'Candidates' Night.'

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February 10, 2021 at 2:36:21 AM

Ocoee

Former cop-turned-law student campaigns on building parks, retaining firefighters

On a recent afternoon, Knox Anderson, candidate for Ocoee District 2 city commissioner, met VoxPopuli's founding editor Norine Dworkin in Bill Breeze Park to talk about how to stop the city from losing its firefighters, Covid-19 messaging and how running for commissioner is kinda like doing an Iron Man.

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February 8, 2021 at 9:07:19 PM

Windermere

Retired AF Col. Anthony Davit turns his civil engineer's eye to solving Windermere's traffic, flooding problems

Anthony Davit has served his country all over the world, including Bosnia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Guam, Italy, even Antarctica. Now he's running to serve the Town of Windermere. Just don't call him a politician.

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February 3, 2021 at 5:59:25 PM

Winter Garden

District 4 candidate Dawn Antonis seeks 'smart growth' and greater environmental protection

Winter Garden District 4 candidate Dawn Antonis sits down with editor Norine Dworkin to share her platform of smarter development, support for local businesses and internet access for students. Oh yeah, she's into the environment, too.

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February 2, 2021 at 8:35:11 PM

Windermere

Candidate Mandy David seeks 'connection' in running for Town Council

Editor Norine Dworkin talks with Windermere Town Council candidate Mandy David about what prompted her run, her concerns for the town and the one thing Windermere really needs.

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2021
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