Winter Park Commission Seat 3 incumbent Kris Cruzada won his re-election bid on Tuesday against challenger, Justin Vermuth. Despite outpacing Cruzada more than 3-to-1 in campaign donations, Vermuth only took 37.1% of the vote to Cruzada’s 62.9%.
Cruzada won 51.99% of the vote in his 2022 race for Seat 3 against opponent, Anjali Vaya. He based his recent campaign on support from residents and reiterated his 2022 pledge to keep taxes low, maintain budget reserves, support the arts and sustainability, and protect quality of life through code compliance and future land use designations.
Vermuth, a local attorney and senior vice president of state government affairs for the American Resort Development Association, was endorsed by the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce. According to campaign financial reports, Vermuth collected $86,290 in contributions through February 25 while Cruzada, who is also an attorney, collected $27,891 in contributions.
Neither candidate responded to requests for comment.
City Commission Seat 4 was also up for grabs, but local defense attorney Warren Lindsey won as the only candidate to qualify before the January 21 deadline. Seat 4 incumbent Todd Weaver stated last year that he would not seek another term.
Opponents to the city’s ban on gas-powered leaf blowers are also celebrating a victory as the vote to repeal the ordinance passed with 54.5% of the vote vs 45.5% in favor of keeping the ban in place.
The ordinance prohibiting the landscaping tools was first introduced with the intent of limiting noise and environmental pollution. It was unanimously approved by commissioners in January of 2022 and enforcement was to begin in July of 2024. However, the option of allowing voters their say was presented to the city last year by Sen. Jason Brodeur. The move was in response to emails from residents and lawn care business owners who wanted the ban repealed.
Opponents claimed the ban was an example of government overreach and that the cost of switching to the more expensive, less powerful electric models would be too much of a burden on businesses. Opinions were heard during a special commission meeting in February of 2024 and the decision to place the referendum on the ballot passed by a 3-2 vote in April with City Commissioners Marty Sullivan and Todd Weaver dissenting.
Voter turnout on Tuesday was approximately 21% with 4,638 of the city’s 22,533 registered voters casting ballots in the Commission Seat 3 race. The total number of votes cast in the leaf-blower referendum was 4,548.
