Harvey Ward and Ed Bielarski are headed to a runoff in the November general election after emerging as the two top candidates for Gainesville mayor in Tuesday's primary.
Unofficial results from the Alachua County Supervisor of Elections Office showed neither candidate clearing the vote-getting majority threshold needed to avoid a runoff election.
Ward is in his second term as a Gainesville city commissioner and was among the four commissioners who in January voted to fire Bielarski as general manager of the city's utility.
Outgoing Mayor Lauren Poe was first elected in 2016 and was term-limited.
Correction appended: A previous version of this story's headline misstated that there were 10 candidates, not nine.
| Name | Votes | Percentage | Contributions | Expenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| David Arreola | 3,193 | 15.32% | $31,048.48 | $23,333.27 |
| Ed Bielarski | 5,545 | 26.6% | $35,175.92 | $30,502.20 |
| Ansaun Fisher | 438 | 2.1% | $200 | $0 |
| Gary Gordon | 3,007 | 14.43% | $18,925.78 | $14,578.76 |
| Gabriel Hillel | 271 | 1.3% | $0 | $0 |
| Adam Rosenthal | 232 | 1.11% | $0 | $472.29 |
| Donald Shepherd | 249 | 1.19% | $0 | $0 |
| July Thomas | 2,092 | 10.04% | $8,269.85 | $1,190.48 |
| Harvey Ward | 5,818 | 27.91% | $45,308 | $33,868.72 |
Two of the three races for open city commission seats will also head to runoff contests in November. With no incumbents running, each seat will feature a new city commissioner.
Ed Book and James Ingle will face off for the District 2 seat.
| Name | Votes | Percentage | Contributions | Expenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jo Lee Beaty | 1,688 | 18.1% | $8,234.94 | $4,808.03 |
| Ed Book | 3,714 | 39.82% | $42,139.03 | $25,490.40 |
| James Ingle | 2,541 | 27.24% | $28,254 | $19,001.08 |
| Michael Raburn | 1,384 | 14.84% | $23,174.03 | $20,917.97 |
In District 3, Casey Willits fell just short of claiming a victory and will again be matched against Dejeon Cain in November.
| Name | Votes | Percentage | Contributions | Expenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dejeon Cain | 664 | 35.72% | $15,056.20 | $8,000 |
| Patrick Ingle | 286 | 15.38% | $1,707.28 | $1,404.02 |
| Casey Willits | 909 | 48.9% | $10,290.44 | $7,500.54 |
In District 4, Bryan Eastman claimed victory over Christian Newman, according to unofficial results from the Alachua County Supervisor of Elections.
| Name | Votes | Percentage | Contributions | Expenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bryan Eastman | 2,895 | 53.05% | $34,651 | $25,206.99 |
| Christian Newman | 2,562 | 46.95% | $57,111.50 | $52,576.57 |