Craig Russell ekes out victory in close race for Seat 2 on the City Commission
The results put Jason Johnson at just 34 votes behind Russell
April 16, 2024
By Beth Kassab
Craig Russell won Seat 2 on the City Commission on Tuesday by 34 votes, a victory that fell just over the threshold that would have triggered an automatic ballot recount.
Russell, who will become the first Black commissioner in Winter Park in more than 130 years, tallied 2,869 votes or 50.3% while Jason Johnson received 2,835 votes or 49.7%. The totals were separated by .6% and it takes under a half percent to cause a recount.
Craig Russell, a football and wrestling coach at Winter Park High School, is running for City Commission.
The numbers are unofficial until the canvassing board meets on Friday, but a spokeswoman for the Orange County Supervisor of Elections office said the results are unlikely to change because only eight ballots are in question.
Russell, a 43-year-old teacher and coach at Winter Park High School, did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
His historic win comes on the heels of another landmark election last month when Sheila DeCiccio became the city’s first woman to ever be elected mayor. Russell will serve out the remaining two years of her commission term.
Johnson said he wanted to wait for the official results after the canvassing board meets on Friday to see if any overseas or other ballots come in, but thanked his supporters on Tuesday night.
“I am proud of the race I have run and am very proud of how we closed a sizeable gap in the past four weeks,” he said. “Mostly, I am very grateful for the support, encouragement and friendship of both my longtime family and friends and the many wonderful people I have been blessed to meet through this campaign.”
Russell ran on a message of “a new generation of leadership” and will be the youngest elected official on the current City Commission by 10 years.
He was the only candidate endorsed by the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce and significantly outraised and outspent Johnson with the help of high-profile landholders, developers and a political action committee affiliated with the chamber. He said during the campaign that he was open to revisiting the original Orange Avenue Overlay plans as well as the super majority charter amendments that voters passed by a wide margin in 2022.
Russell raised more than $100,000 and Winter PAC raised nearly $30,000 on his behalf compared to Johnson’s $71,000.
Debate over development philosophy dominated the differences between Russell and Johnson, who said he was comfortable with the current OAO that calls for smaller buildings and less density and who supported the amendments that require four votes on the commission for certain zoning changes.
Russell and Johnson, both first-time candidates and both registered Democrats, also sparred over their voting records.
Public records show that Russell, who mostly grew up in Winter Park and graduated from the high school he teaches at now, did not vote in a municipal election until he was on the ballot this year.
Johnson, an attorney who emphasized the need to protect the charm and character of Winter Park, voted in nearly every election he was eligible to vote in.
Turnout in the run-off dropped from about 30% on March 19 to 26%. A total of 5,704 people cast ballots, down from 6,565 in the initial three-way race held the same day as Florida’s presidential preference primary.
While Russell’s victory marks the first time a Black commissioner will be seated on the dais in more than a century, numbers from the March 19 vote show Black voters made up just a fraction of the electorate as the city’s historically Black west side has undergone significant redevelopment and gentrification in the past two decades.
Statistics from the supervisor’s office show only 215 people who identify as Black voted in Winter Park on March 19.
Winter Park voters are largely white. The March election also saw only 229 voters who identified as Hispanic and 344 who identified as “other.”
The current commission includes Kris Cruzada, who is Filipino American, and DeCiccio, whose father is Indian and mother is white.
Demographic statistics from Tuesday’s voter turnout won’t be available until after the results are finalized.
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Amazing no one from the voice was at Craig’s gathering- he had plenty to say there- wonderful man and family that will serve the citizens well
Voted for Johnson, but I’ll give Russell a fair chance. He has a historic opportunity as the first African American Commissioner in a long time to do right by the residents of WP as a whole. I hope he doesn’t embolden developers with his pro code variance positions to scoop up and flatten the historic black community of WP and replace it with a bunch of soulless infilled multistory condos!!
At the first meeting yesterday we saw a major donor and Russell begin the dangerous dance we all saw coming. The donor began the process of calling in the chits. You don’t donate many, many thousands and expect nothing in return for so many dollars invested. Amazing how many were fooled and how quickly the reality emerged.
Congratulations to Holler!
Congratulations to Coach Russell! I’m excited to see the ways his leadership will add to our community.
The coach won by the line at Starbucks on a Monday morning. We know this was a divisive election. The most important thing the coach needs to do right away is demonstrate to the citizens that he is on their side and not a Chamber of Commerce commissioner bent on making a bad parking situation worse and overdeveloping. I wish him the best and will support him if he chooses to keep the charm in Winter Park.
A huge loss for Winter Park. Definitely the least qualified candidate—elected because he is a popular football coach who obviously from the debates is not qualified for this position. He may be a good guy but he is not the right person for this important job. The narrow margin of the vote shows that half the voting residents feel he was not the best choice.
More than half the voters say he was exactly the right person for the job. I for one believe he is very qualified — and that it’s way past time for the commission not be dominated by old white guys. Way past time for a woman mayor, too. About time residents get the diverse representation they deserve. There, I said it. And so did more than half of the voters in Winter Park.
Elections are not about race or sex. However, they are about picking the best and most qualified candidate. I hope and pray that the best candidates were chosen at this election.
Well said Lauren! Well said!!!
Why don’t we give the man a chance before screaming ” the sky is falling”
Apparently those folks caring enough about Winter Park to show up and vote in this runoff, they favored Mr. Russell, so for those folks, they are happy with this decision. It’s not like the Holler’s and Demetree’s have 100’s of family members voting.
He is one vote on an otherwise stacked Commission that votes in lockstep virtually all of the time. If you know Mr. Russell he will not be some over powering Commissioner or know it all like a certain other Commissioner who seems to know what is good for all of us uniformed Winter Parkers. How about we celebrate the election of an African American, educator, coach and community engager and worry about his supposed ” positions ” on things when the time comes.
And now we see what $130k buys. Commissioner salary is $12,600.
Say what you will about the Coach, he has got some real mojo. We now have a man in elected office who has cast only 2 votes in the city, both for himself. Where will his third vote be cast? From the dais. We know the Chamber PAC folks are his friends. Will karma be his friend or foe going forward? Only time will tell.
I cannot think of a better skill set to bring to the Winter Park City Commission than knowledge of wrestling, weightlifting and football. We can beat the crap out of Maitland, Oviedo, Altamonte if we ever start an intramural team. I can see why the donors to the Chamber PAC were falling all over themselves to donate thousands. Makes perfect sen$e if you look at it through that lens. Apparently, half of the voters missed this.
I’m sure coach is a lovely person but what experience did he bring again? Worse, if he is not careful he’ll be the person responsible for the big development destruction of historic Hannibal. It’s not just the OAO part of WP they’ll plow down to make big $.
Congrats Coach! Definitely the most qualified for many reasons even though his experience did not include approving variances on the city’s board of adjustments. His knowledge, understanding and approach is the exact counter balance to the current commission past decision making.
Coach, congratulations and best wishes!
Actions not words. The voting record speaks for itself. Both seem to have lovely character, but actions (and backers) speak louder than words on my book.