APOPKA, Fla. – The race for Apopka mayor is headed to a runoff next month after none of the candidates secured more than 50% of the vote in Tuesday’s election.
Orange County Commissioner Christine Moore and Apopka Commissioner Nick Nesta will advance to the runoff on April 14 to determine who will become the next mayor of Apopka.
Nesta celebrated Tuesday night as early unofficial returns showed him leading the field.
“The momentum is obviously there,” Nesta told News 6. “The residents are behind us. We’re ready to really take this city into the 21st century.”
Nesta also pointed to the ballot question, saying voters made clear they want to keep the mayor’s power in place.
“The residents want a strong mayor,” he said. “I’ll be that strong mayor for them.”
Moore also moves on to the runoff after months of controversy surrounding a lawsuit that challenged whether she met Apopka’s residency requirement to run for mayor.
Moore told News 6 she believes her campaign’s message still connected with voters.
“We overcame the negative, the negativity, because my message has always just been positive about what I can do,” Moore said.
She said the runoff now becomes a direct comparison between her and Nesta.
“We’ll talk about who has the skill set to move Apopka forward,” Moore said.
Voters cast ballots Tuesday at polling places including the Apopka Community Center, where election workers wrapped up voting before unofficial results began coming in later in the evening.
You can find Orange County election results here.
Voters headed to the polls on Tuesday amid allegations, a courtroom dispute, and a referendum that could limit the next mayor’s power in Apopka.
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In the last few months, the race became more than just about who wins. Mayor Bryan Nelson filed a legal challenge in January seeking to have Moore’s candidacy declared invalid, alleging she did not meet residency requirements. Moore said she rented a room inside Apopka city limits while waiting to close on her current residence.
In court on Monday, Moore asked for the lawsuit to be dismissed. The judge did not issue a ruling and instead instructed both sides to submit proposed orders by Wednesday, one day after the election.
Tammy Martin, an Apopka resident, told News 6 she was confident voters would head to the polls to make their voices heard despite all the back and forth between candidates.
“It’s been kind of chaotic with all of the news articles and disruptions and everything else, but I think we’ll get the right person in office,” she said. “If we don’t vote, we don’t get the right person.”
Voters were also choosing City Commission members and deciding a ballot question on whether to replace a strong-mayor system with a city manager, a change that would reduce the mayor’s power.
Rebecca Baughman has lived in Apopka for almost three decades. She went to vote on Tuesday, stressing the importance of local government in communities, especially in Apopka, a city that is still growing.
“Because it’s a small town, big town, kind of in between here, I think it’s important because we need to make sure that it’s run right, because we’ve been here a long time and we’ve seen a lot of changes,” she said.
News 6 has interviewed the three candidates running for mayor in Apopka.