Nelson retains Seat 5 on Titusville City Council; Seat 1 will see November runoff

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Incumbent Titusville City Council member Jo Lynn Nelson will stay in her Seat 5 position after winning more than half the vote Tuesday.

Titusville will see a runoff election in November for Seat 1 on the City Council because none of the three candidates received more than 50% of the vote. In that race, Herman Cole will face Kathleen Perez in a Nov. 8 runoff election.

Seat 1 incumbent Robert Jordan Jr. did not seeking reelection after one term to focus on spending time with his family and traveling.

Joe Robinson was unopposed for the Seat 3 position, which he has held for the past two years after he filled the seat vacated by Dan Diesel, who ran and won the mayoral position, which he still holds.

Nelson was able to fend off two challengers — Stan Johnston and Nathan Slusher — both heavily involved citizens and regulars at City Council meetings who often voice their concerns over the issues affecting the city.

Who was running: Six candidates vie for two Titusville City Council seats; one incumbent unopposed

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Nelson swept to victory in Seat 5 with 52.57% of the vote. Her opponents, Johnston and Slusher, took the other 47.43%, with Johnston taking 28.26% and Slusher taking 19.17%.

“I’m happy, because there are things we need to continue doing in our community,”  Nelson said Tuesday night. “I’m happy that the people expressed a level of trust in me and a level of confidence that I can get the job done. I’m very appreciative.”

“I want to see our infrastructure fixed,” Nelson said in discussing the issues. “I want to see the river cleaned up. I see it getting cleaner, but we’re not there yet. Affordable workforce housing. People can’t afford to live right now.”

For Seat 1, political newcomer Kenneth May was eliminated, with only 18.51% of the vote. But because neither Herman Cole nor Kathleen Perez attained more than 50% of the vote, they will now have to race against one another in a runoff election to be held Nov. 8.

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Cole, 76, retired U.S. Air Force colonel, led the results Tuesday, with 42.70% of the vote, compared with 38.78% of voters choosing Perez, a 61-year-old former systems analyst, stay-at-home mom and alpaca farmer.

“I feel good,” Perez said. “He had a lot of money backing him, so I feel good that outworked him. I’m going to keep on keeping on, keep working like crazy and, hopefully, get out some of the younger vote.”

“The river, the trees, the environment are all things that should concern the younger generation than mine,” she added.

Kathleen Perez

Perez said she believes she can beat Cole come November — even with the large difference in campaign donations between her and Cole.

Cole could not be reach for comment Tuesday evening.

Titusville City Council seats are elected at large, meaning that members are voted in by all the residents in the city, not within a specific district. Terms of office are four years.

City Council elections are nonpartisan races, with political party affiliations not indicated on the ballot.

Pay for members of the City Council is $8,102.90 a year.

Titusville was the only one of Brevard County’s 16 cities and towns with a municipal election on the Aug. 23 ballot.

Tyler Vazquez is the North Brevard Watchdog Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Vazquez at 321-917-7491 or tvazquez@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @tyler_vazquez

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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Incumbent Nelson retains Titusville Seat 5, with runoff for Seat 1