Voice of the people
Voter turnout in Lee County saw a bump from the past two primaries on Tuesday with 29.72% of voters casting a ballot as compared to 23.6% in 2024 and 26.56% in 2022.
On the local level, two incumbents — one on the county level, the other here in the Cape — lost big.
Republican challenger Amanda Cochran bested Gov. Ron DeSantis’ appointee, Trish Petrosky, by nearly 10 percentage points to win the District 5 seat on the Lee County Board of County Commissioners.
Ms. Cochran, who took 54.75% of the vote, said the race came down to one paramount issue: Growth management.
She said it also came down to a partner issue when it comes to decision making: Transparency.
Amanda Cochran
“There has been a distance” regarding transparency on the board, Ms. Cochran told Breeze Newspapers editor Nathan Mayberg on election night. “That is the root of all of this.”
Growth of a different sort, and a disconnect with the public, also likely led to Mayor John Gunter coming in a distant third to two political newcomers in a primary race that attracted five challengers for his seat on the Cape Coral City Council.
Mayor Gunter received 5,428 votes, about 15% of the tally.
The top vote-getter, Rick Erickson, a 32-year Army veteran who retired as a Special Forces sergeant major, received 11,663 votes, or 32% of the vote.
Lisa Cohen-Adkinson, broker-owner of Valor Property Management and Valor Real Estate Services, Inc., received 8,907 votes, or about 24.5%.
Both challengers, who are now heading to a face-off in the General Election in November, stressed fiscal responsibility and accountability, hammering both budget growth and the escalating costs of the city’s ongoing utility project.
They each also stressed a willingness to listen, a flashpoint for not only those who have attended Mayor Gunter’s gavel-heavy Council meetings but to critics who maintain that public input on everything from spending to community priorities has been ignored.
Mayor John Gunter speaks at the Yacht Club in late May. CHUCK BALLARO
Partisan politics may rule at the state and national level.
At the local, the voice of the people have sway and, if not at the meetings, there is always the ballot box.
Something for candidates heading to the General Election — and voters — to remember.
Breeze editorial