Apopka Mayoral Race Heads for April Runoff Election
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
By: Nicole Creston

March 12th, 2014 | WMFE, Orlando - Apopka Mayor John Land will have to wait for a runoff election to learn whether he will serve a 20th term. The 93-year-old incumbent lost to City Commissioner Joe Kilsheimer by nearly 450 votes, but neither candidate scored enough votes for an outright win.

Joe Kilsheimer took about 48 percent of the vote to Mayor Land’s 38 percent, but both fell short of the more than 50 percent needed to win. The contest heads to a runoff election April 8^th.

Challenger Glen Chancy came away with 10 percent of the vote, and Gregg Phillips got 4 percent.

Those numbers, along with historically high voter turnout, reflect a changing Apopka, says University of Central Florida Political Science professor Aubrey Jewett.

“The results seem to indicate that a number of Apopkans were ready to head off in a new direction, since about 60 percent of voters voted for someone else besides Mayor Land,” says Jewett.

Other races Tuesday included the Republican primary for west Orange County’s House District 44. Voters overwhelmingly chose Eric Eisnaugle over Vicky Bell as their candidate to replace Steve Precourt.