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Buddy Dyer Wins Mayoral Race Comfortably, Despite Low Voter Turnout


Buddy Dyer thanked supporters for electing him to a third full term as mayor of Orlando. But some of the other candidates say they are disappointed with the low voter turnout.

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A crowd of more than a hundred people rubbed elbows at the Abbey bar in downtown Orlando Tuesday night to celebrate mayor Dyer’s success. Dyer praised his campaign staff for getting the word out and delivering a resounding victory.

"I am so humbled by the turnout and the overwhelming show of support from the citizens of Orlando saying we’re headed in the right direction,” he told them

Out of one hundred and thirty thousand registered voters in the city, just under 21 thousand cast ballots in this election.

Buddy Dyer.jpg 

Dyer said the low turnout didn’t detract from the result, but at the Beardall Senior Center, where Phil Diamond's supporters were throwing their party, the runner up was more critical.

Diamond resigned from his position as City Commissioner to run for Mayor. He says one of his biggest frustrations in local government has been the difficulty of getting citizens involved in local politics.

“I wish people would take more of an interest," he said.

"I think that’s one more reason why I would disagree with the decision the mayor and the city council made to move the election to april. I thought that in addition to costing an extra hundred twenty five thousand dollars it would make it harder for people to vote. There was nothing else on the ballot except for the mayor and four city commission races.”

More than 100 people packed the Abbey bar for Dyer's party.j 

Diamond said he has no hard feelings about losing. He's returning to his law practise, but he hasn’t ruled out another turn in local politics

At the harp restaurant in downtown Orlando, businessman and three time Buddy Dyer opponent Ken Mulvaney was taking stock of the election result.

“elections are elections and that’s the way it is," Mulvaney said.

"But I think the turnout ended up being about 16 per cent, which is very low turnout. Which just goes to show that most people, you know, really don’t care about what goes on in the city.”

Political newcomer Mike Cantone came in a distant fourth in the mayoral contest.

During the campaign some of the candidates questioned whether Buddy Dyer was committed to another full term or if he would make a run at the governor’s office.

Last night, Dyer maintained he would not.

“I am happy to be the mayor of Orlando and plan on doing that for four years,” he said.  

Dyer said the city’s heading in the right direction and he wants to be around to keep it on course.

Diamond for Mayor.jpg 

 

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