LAKE COUNTY, Fla. – Voters in cities and towns across Central Florida had local elections to vote in on Tuesday.
In Lake County, that included elections in Clermont, Groveland, Mascotte, Montverde and Tavares.
Unofficial election results are now being posted on the Lake County Supervisor of Elections website.
Clermont
An incumbent Clermont City Council member lost his reelection bid Tuesday.
Bryan Bain beat incumbent Seat 2 Council Member Tod Howard, 53.82% to 46.18%.
Howard, a business owner, joined the council after winning a special election in May 2024. He has also served on the Lake County School Board. Campaign website.
Bain, who worked in higher education and is a licensed real estate agent, serves on the city’s planning and zoning board. He and his family moved to Clermont in 2019. Before that, he served on the city council in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Campaign website.
Council Seat 4 was also supposed to be up for election, but incumbent Council Member Chandra Myers did not get an opponent and was reelected outright.
Council members are chosen to serve two-year terms and are only allowed to serve four consecutive terms in office.
Groveland
Michael Jaycox will take the Groveland City Council District 4 seat after a race plagued with controversy.
[WATCH: Groveland District 4 vote Tuesday]
Michael Jaycox and Jim O’Neil were the top vote-getters in an August election in a three-way race against embattled incumbent Judith Fike, who was briefly suspended after she was accused of posting “hateful” and “racist” social media posts.
Jaycox beat O’Neil on Tuesday, 68.78% to 31.22%.
Jaycox is involved in engineering and construction inspection and is an Air Force veteran. Campaign website.
O’Neil is a Navy veteran who also worked in the Lake County School District. He is currently serving as lead for the Groveland Education Initiative. Campaign website.
O’Neil is facing both criminal charges and a civil lawsuit after allegedly attacking a neighbor in August. Investigators say he followed the man, Michael Trentadue, after observing him speeding through the neighborhood, and later headbutted him. O’Neill’s attorney previously requested bond, citing his client’s clean record and ties to the community, though no new court date has been announced.
Six out of seven referenda were approved by Groveland voters on Tuesday. The results are below. You can see the election results on the Lake County Supervisor of Elections website.
- APPROVED. An ordinance to impose term limits on the mayor and city council.
- APPROVED. An ordinance to allow voters to force the city council to reconsider some ordinance within 90 days of adoption.
- REJECTED. An ordinance that would allow the city council to reduce the city manager’s compensation during the manager’s tenure.
- APPROVED. An ordinance that would stop the city from approving, executing or renewing contracts in the period between a city election and the swearing in of new council members.
- APPROVED. An ordinance to state that community member engagement is essential to healthy civil life and a thriving local democracy.
- APPROVED. An ordinance to allow the city council to appoint a city attorney.
- APPROVED. An ordinance to change why a council member may forfeit their office.
Read each referendum on the Groveland website.
Mascotte
The city of Mascotte will keep both of its incumbent city council members after Tuesday’s election.
In Seat 1, incumbent Robin Hughes narrowly defeated former mayor Barbara Krull, 50.66% to 49.34%
Hughes runs a lawn care business and worked as a corrections officer at the Coleman Federal Correctional Center. She won her first term in 2022.
Hughes is currently suing the city of Mascotte, alleging police brutality against her husband stemming from a January 2023 encounter with Mascotte police.
In the complaint, Hughes says she and her husband were on their way to their jobs in separate cars when a police officer pulled her over for running a stop sign. The complaint says Daniel Hughes pulled over nearby, and the officer insisted that he leave the area. When Hughes refused, the complaint says the officer broke the car window, forced out of his vehicle and was stunned with a taser several times. He was arrested under several charges, including battery on a law enforcement officer, but the state attorney chose not to accept the charges.
However, because of the arrest, the Florida Department of Corrections fired Daniel Hughes, according to the complaint. The couple is suing DOC over the firing as well.
Robin Hughes does not have a campaign website. She does have a Facebook page. The lawsuit is ongoing.
Barbara Krull was the mayor of Mascotte from 2015 to 2019. She does not have a campaign website.
In Seat 5, incumbent Randy Brasher defeated challenger Sharee Hodge, 51.47% to 48.53%.
Brasher is a former Mascotte fire chief. He was first elected to the city council in 2021. Brasher does not have a campaign website, but he does have an Instagram account.
Hodge runs an organization called Finding the Lost Sheep and runs faith-based community initiatives. Campaign website.
Montverde
In the Town of Montverde, Mayor Joe Wynkoop was reelected without opposition.
Meanwhile, one incumbent will return to the town council, while another seat will be filled by a newcomer.
Incumbent Council member Grant Roberts gained the most votes in the four-way election for the two town council seats, with 37.03% of the vote.
Roberts was appointed to the town council earlier this year. The Montverde native is a small business owner.
Bryan Rubio got the second seat with 28.27% of the vote. Rubio is a small business owner with experience as a realtor who applied to fill a seat on the town council earlier this year. Roberts was eventually selected.
Incumbent Council member Allan Hartle got third place with 23.16% of the vote. Hartle worked for Whitaker Oil as an environmental health and safety manager and comes from an agricultural family.
Judy Ley came in fourth place with 11.54% of the vote. Ley is the wife of former vice mayor Jim Ley, who stepped down in February. She works as an editor.
Montverde voters also overwhelmingly approved a referendum asking if the town council should need a supermajority vote to increase development densities in the town’s comprehensive plan.
More election information is on the Montverde website.
Tavares
The city of Tavares had one election on Tuesday for City Council Seat 4.
Doug Keown won the seat, beating Lou Buigas 63.08% to 36.92%.
Lou Buigas works with West Construction Services and is also an owner/managing partner for Tavares WaterFront Entertainment District Group. She does have a Facebook campaign page.
Doug Keown is a retired U.S. Naval Intelligence officer and a social work professional. He has a campaign website.