PALM COAST — More than 20% of eligible voters have already filled out ballots to select this city’s next mayor in a special election that will be determined on Tuesday.

Often, stand-alone special elections for municipal seats draw less than 20% of voters to the polls. That more than that amount has already voted early in Palm Coast’s mayoral race in advance of Tuesday election day is a sign of high interest in the race.

It’s a critical election for Palm Coast, a growing city sorting through contentious issues with a four-member City Council that has deadlocked 2-2 a number of times in the weeks since the mayor’s seat has been open. 

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Former Mayor Milissa Holland abruptly resigned May 18, citing the need to care for her daughter, who has battled health issues since receiving a liver transplant.

Six candidates are on the special election ballot to replace Holland. The election will cost taxpayers an estimated $180,000. 

The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on election day Tuesday and citizens must vote at assigned polling place unless they’ve been assigned to a temporary location for this election.  

It’s a winner-take-all showdown with no run-off. The candidate with the most votes wins, even if he or she gets way less than 50% of the total vote. And with six people running, it’s likely no one will get 50% of the vote.

Although the race is non-partisan, four of the candidates are Republicans and two are Democrats. Palm Coast voters are majority Republican, but because of the number of candidates in the race and the fact that a majority of them are Republicans, it’s more than a little possible that one of the Democrats could become mayor. 

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Here are the people aspiring to be the city’s next mayor

• David Alfin, is a commercial real estate broker and a graduate of the 2015 Flagler County Leadership Institute and a member of the city of Palm Coast Citizens Advisory Task Force and former president of the Flagler County Education Foundation. He is a Republican.

• Kathy Austrino is a real estate broker and a county Republican executive committee woman. She and her husband also run a property maintenance and management company. They also run the TAG V foundation which provides Teddy bears to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office, so deputies can give them to kids in need of comfort. No money was reported in her campaign account. 

• Carol Bacha is a nun and a nurse whose experience includes working as an independent contractor offering music programs with the recreation departments at Orange County Public Schools, as well as charter schools and private schools. She has identified herself as a Republican.

• Doug Courtney works in the field of information technology and research and development. Courtney is a Democrat who has run for state house and for clerk of courts in Flagler County.

• Cornelia Manfre is a realtor and has received CCIM designation from the CCIM Institute in Chicago, which bills itself on its website as commercial real estate’s global standard for professional achievement. She is the wife of former Flagler County Sheriff Jim Manfre, and is also a Democrat.

• Alan Lowe is an entrepreneur and small businessman, who has two patents. Lowe finished second to Holland in the November 2020 race for mayor. He is a Republican.

Palm Coast’s next mayor will face multiple tasks

The mayor will be the deciding vote on issues like setting the tax rate for next year for the growing city. The mayor will also be a pivotal vote on whether to allow commercial vehicle parking in residential areas or whether to put the issue before residents in the form of a referendum.

The new mayor also will play an important role in the selection of a new city manager. Former City Manager Matt Morton resigned just a week after Holland’s resignation.

The council is currently split 2-2 between Interim Mayor Eddie Branquinho and Councilman Nick Klufas on one side and Council members Ed Danko and Victor Barbosa on the other.

Whoever becomes the next mayor will also inherit a City Hall that has faced some disruption over the past two years. During Morton’s tenure, turnover of senior positions at City Hall was significant.

One manager, compliance office Jay Maher, retired in 2020 only to have Morton fire him a week later. Maher had earlier in the year filed a complaint against Holland with the Florida Commission on Ethics. A closed hearing on that complaint took place on Friday. Holland has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

The week-long early voting for the special mayoral election ended on Saturday. Flagler County Supervisor of Elections Kaiti Lenhart said there was none of the contentiousness between Republicans and Democrats that at times characterized the vote in the much larger presidential election in November 2020.

“Early voting is going very smoothly,” Lenhart said in an interview Friday. “We haven’t had any issues or problems. Everybody is getting along well at the polling places. No issues like we saw during the 2020 election. Of course, this is a much smaller election.”

As of Saturday, when early voting ended, a total of 14,939 votes had been cast, 5,323 in early voting and 9,616 via mail-in ballots. That amounts to 20.6% of the city’s 72,510 eligible voters.

Republicans had cast 6,879 of those votes, Democrats had cast 5,504, no party affiliation voters had cast 2,430, and “other” voters had cast 137, according to the supervisor of elections website.

Who’s winning the money race?

While residents won’t know who wins the race until Tuesday night, it’s clear who is winning the money race so far.

David Alfin is far ahead with $44,745 in contributions, although that includes a $19,385  from Alfin himself, according to the supervisor of elections website. Alan Lowe comes in second with $17,270, and next is Cornelia Downing Manfre with $16,561.19.  Doug Courtney has $4,016.77 in contributions, Kathy Austrino has $3,900 and Carol Bacha has $1,304.

Alfin is getting big support from political action committees from outside Flagler County. Each of the following PACs contributed $1,000 to Alfin’s campaign: Committee for Responsible Representation, Sunshine State First, Florida Taxpayer Defense, Good Government for Florida, and Sunshine State Freedom Fund. Alfin also received $1,000 from Pierson Fern and Greens in Pierson; $1,000 from the Portuguese American Corporation; and $1,000 from Denise Bunch, a photographer in St. Augustine.

Alan Lowe received $1,000 each from: Pamela Bradshaw, who is retired and lives in Bunnell; Douglas Brown, a business owner in New Jersey; and Evans Risk Management Association near Palm Coast.

Manfre received $1,000 contributions from William and Daniele Todd of Palm Coast and Joan Garry of New Jersey.

The other candidates did not receive any single contributions of $1,000.