With 2-vote margin, Orange commission race headed for runoff, not recount

It’s official: The Orange County Commission race between incumbent Nicole Wilson and challenger Austin Arthur is headed to a once-improbable runoff.

The county canvassing board’s final review of ballots narrowed Wilson’s lead over Arthur from five votes on election day to a mere two by day’s end Thursday. But it also found 15 write-in votes in the District 1 contest for Stephen Davis, the sole qualified write-in candidate.

That was enough to push Wilson’s final count below the required 50%-plus-one vote sum needed to win the race outright.

Though the gap between Wilson and Arthur was minuscule, there will be no recount: By state statute, the procedure is mandated only if necessary to check a close race that eliminates a candidate. But Davis was eliminated, and by a wide margin.



https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2024/08/22/orange-county-commission-runoff-wilson-arthur/