Municipal election primer: Everything you need to know for election day

In west Orange County, March 12 will bring candidates head to head for seats on the Ocoee City Commission and Windermere Town Council.

In Ocoee, the role of Mayor and two seats – Districts 1 and 3 – are up for election, however, Ocoee Mayor Rusty Johnson and Ocoee District 3 Commissioner Richard Firstner are running unopposed. 

Meanwhile, Larry Brinson, Sr., is challenging incumbent candidate John Grogan for the District 1 commissioner’s seat, which represents northwest Ocoee. The District 2 and District 4 seats will be up for election in 2021.

And in the town of Windermere, three council seats are up for election, as well as the role of mayor, because Windermere Town Mayor Gary Bruhn has announced his pending resignation from public office. 

Windermere council member and Mayor-Elect Jim O’Brien is running unopposed for town mayor, while six candidates are vying for the three council seats. The six candidates are Liz Andert, Mike Hargreaves, Bill Martini, Dina Pryor and incumbents Bob McKinley and Richard Montgomery.

Windermere residents will also have the opportunity to vote on whether to allow the town of Windermere to borrow up to $5.2 million for the construction of safer and more modern buildings to house the town’s police officers and town administration personnel. The debt will be required to be paid off within 30 years, and property taxes will not be increased for the sole purpose of paying off the debt, according to the ballot question's language.

The election's early-voting period began 8 a.m., Monday, March 4, and ends at 5 p.m., Friday, March 8. Registered voters can participate in early voting by bringing the required identification to their designated polling locations. Ocoee residents may vote at the Jim Beech Recreation Center located at 1820 A.D. Mims Road, and Town of Windermere residents may vote at the Windermere Town Hall located at 520 Main Street.

Any questions about the voting process or ballot questions may be addressed to the municipal government’s respective city clerks. For Ocoee, contact Melanie Sibbitt at (407) 905-3100 Ext. 91022. For Windermere, residents may contact Dorothy Burkhalter at (407) 876-2563.

If necessary, run-off elections will be held Tuesday, April 9. To view a sample ballot for Ocoee, visit https://bit.ly/2UkKhN2. And for Windermere, visit https://bit.ly/2ENO9AQ.