PALM COAST, Fla. — Voters in Palm Coast elected commercial realtor David Alfin to become the new mayor in a winner-take-all special election, according to unofficial results announced Tuesday night.
What You Need To Know
- Commercial realtor David Alfin has been Palm Coast's new mayor, unofficial results show
- Alfin received more than 36% of the votes cast, unofficial results indicate
- The special election followed the resignations of Mayor Milissa Holland, city manager Matthew Morton
- The results will not be official until they are certified July 30
With all precincts reporting, Alfin received 36.34%, or 6,891, of the votes cast, according to the unofficial results released by elections officials.
His closest challenger was Alan Lowe, who received 26.91%, or 5,102 of the votes cast. Cornelia Downing Manfre got 24.04%, or 4,558 of the ballots. No other candidate among the six total that had campaigned received double-digit percentage votes.
The results will remain unofficial until the election results are certified July 30.
Vice Mayor Eddie Branquinho has served as acting mayor since Mayor Milissa Holland resigned, citing a need to care for a daughter who had experienced “extraordinary challenging” health problems, including a liver transplant.
After the new mayor is sworn in, Branquinho will revert back to his role as vice mayor.
One of the new mayor's top priorities will be hiring a new city manager. Nine days after Holland resigned, Matthew Morton submitted his resignation as Palm Coast’s city manager, after reports of “unruly” council meetings “and a restive public,” according to FlaglerLive.com.