As election day descends upon the city, thoughts of last year’s runoff loom over the candidates.
Last year, the election for the District 2 seat of the Gainesville City Commission found itself in a runoff between two staunchly different candidates. This year is no different, but the stakes are higher.
The victor of this year’s runoff on Tuesday between Lauren Poe and Nathan Skop will represent the entire city, rather than just one district.
Poe, an incumbent, lost to current Commissioner Todd Chase in the April 2011 race, receiving 2,045 votes while Chase won with 2,463 votes.
This time around, Chase contributed to Skop’s campaign and endorsed him in the current election against his former opponent.
In regular elections on Jan. 31, Poe secured 4,402 votes and Skop received 2,944 votes.
Poe, an associate professor at Santa Fe College who served on the Gainesville City Commission from 2008 to 2011, said he respects Chase’s decision, but it should not hide the fact that Chase and Skop have contrasting personalities.
“Chase was mellow and laid-back when he ran his campaign,” Poe said. “Mr. Skop is very intense.”
It is Skop’s issues-based campaign and use of political rhetoric that Poe said make him more of an invasive opponent.
During the Alachua County Democratic Black Caucus forum on Jan. 20, Skop continually referred to Poe as his “opponent who was previously voted out of office.” Fifteen minutes into the forum, the moderator told Skop he could not longer refer to Poe in that manner. Some in the audience applauded.
Despite the difference in opponents, Poe said he’s much more comfortable in this year’s runoff than last year’s. He said he has honed in on current city initiatives, such as the city’s biomass contract, Innovation Gainesville and adding more outdoor public areas.
Skop, a lawyer, said he is proud of running an issues-based campaign that is focused on bringing change to the current state of the commission.
Chase said he pledged his support to Skop because of his background in the utility industry, which he said will be of great value to the commission.
Skop served four years on the Florida Public Service Commission where he worked to prevent utility rate increases. He is steadfastly against the city’s biomass contract.
He has cited it as a “$3.1 billion financial disaster of the City Commission’s own making” in most public forums throughout the election.
Skop voted in favor of the contract while he was on the Public Service Commission. He said he didn’t take the rate increase into consideration when voting because his vote revolved around the city’s energy needs, not rate impacts.
As one who served with Poe on the commission from 2008 to 2011, Commissioner Jeanna Mastrodicasa she she supports Poe and his positive, progressive campaign. The winner of the runoff will take her seat on the commission in May.
“We didn’t always agree on things, but he was always hard-working and thoughtful,” she said.
