Tallahassee voters will return to the polls in November to decide the mayor and two City Commission seats after no candidate captured more than 50% of the vote in any of the three city races Tuesday.
The results also leave open the possibility of a significant ideological shift at City Hall. Progressive candidates could emerge from the November runoffs with control of a majority of the five-member City Commission.
In the race for mayor, City Commissioner Jeremy Matlow finished first with 14,908 votes, or 36.02%, followed by former state Sen. Loranne Ausley with 13,971 votes, or 33.76%, according to results provided by the Leon County Supervisor of Elections with all 80 participating precincts reporting.
Attorney and business owner Daryl Parks finished third with 10,466 votes, or 25.29%, while Michael Shawn Foust received 2,039 votes, or 4.93%.
Matlow and Ausley will advance to the November runoff. The mayor’s race is for the seat being vacated by Mayor John Dailey, who is not seeking another term. The city’s elections are officially nonpartisan.
The closest contest Tuesday came in the six-candidate race for City Commission Seat 3, where P.J. Perez led the field but fell well short of the majority needed to avoid a runoff.
Perez received 11,612 votes, or 29.05%. The battle for second place was separated by just 24 votes, with Tom Derzypolski receiving 10,524 votes, or 26.33%, and Talethia Edwards receiving 10,500 votes, or 26.27%.
Because of the razor-thin margin, the Seat 3 contest will undergo a recount to determine whether Derzypolski or Edwards advances to face Perez in November.
Darryl “Dar Wavemaker” Alfred received 2,935 votes, Maxwell “Max” Herrle received 2,454, and Norm Roche received 1,951.
Seat 3 is currently held by Matlow, who gave up the seat to run for mayor.
In the Seat 5 contest, incumbent Commissioner Dianne Williams-Cox finished first with 15,631 votes, or 39.66%. Former Mayor and City Commissioner Dot Inman-Johnson finished second with 14,460 votes, or 36.69%, while Tifany Hill received 9,321 votes, or 23.65%.
Williams-Cox and Inman-Johnson will meet again in November.
The three runoffs could have major consequences for the direction of city government.
Matlow has been a leading voice of the commission’s progressive bloc along with Commissioner Jack Porter. If Matlow wins the mayor’s race and progressive-aligned candidates also prevail in the Seat 3 and Seat 5 contests, progressives could move from a two-member bloc to control of the five-member commission.
However, that outcome is far from settled. Ausley finished only 937 votes behind Matlow Tuesday, Williams-Cox led the Seat 5 field, and the identity of Perez’s Seat 3 runoff opponent will not be certain until the recount is completed.
The November election will therefore do more than fill three seats. With three of the commission’s five positions on the ballot, voters will determine whether the balance of power at City Hall shifts toward the progressive wing or whether a governing coalition outside that bloc maintains control.
The runoff election is scheduled for Nov. 3.
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