A City Commission election that began three weeks ago ends today, as residents of Gainesville's District 2 return to the polls for a runoff vote.
Candidates Bonnie Mott and Lauren Poe said they have campaigned vigorously for this, their second electoral competition in less than a month, and hope supporters turn out to today's 10 open precincts.
On Jan. 29, the day of the initial election, Mott, a local real estate company owner, netted the most supporters with about 42 percent of the total votes.
However, city candidates must pull in a majority, or more than 50 percent of the vote, to take the election.
That meant Poe, a SFCC professor who won the second-most votes in the race with about 35 percent, would join Mott back on the ballot for the run-off. The third candidate, Bryan Harman, won about 23 percent of the votes and is not on the ballot.
Although the runoff may seem like a rehash, it could hold some surprises.
Both candidates said they expect a lower turnout, though neither could guess whether that would prove beneficial.
Also, both candidates have also received possibly influential endorsements in the past few weeks - Mott from members of law enforcement, and Poe from his former competitor Harman.
