Winter Springs now has three new commissioners: Sarah Baker, Mark Caruso, and Paul Diaz. They were elected at the end of a contentious race in which two incumbents lost their seats.
Three of the five Winter Springs City Commission seats are up for election on Tuesday. Since many decisions are made by a 3-2 vote, the balance of many future votes on the City Commission could change.
In Oviedo, seats have often been uncontested over the past 20 years, but in Winter Springs, places on the Commission almost always have a challenger.
Paul Diaz, an accountant, ran against Commissioner Matt Benton in District 1. Diaz said he would make the city’s budget better.
Ted Johnson, who was running for office but did not run again, vacated District 3. Sarah Baker, a marketing manager in the food business, and Karen Meyer, a former employee of Texas Instruments and police reserve officer, were running to fill the seat.
There was also the biggest difference in votes in the city, with Baker getting 64.02% of the vote and Meyer getting 35.98%.
Baker said, “I need to get a lot of work done.” “Winter Springs needs many changes.”
Most of the votes were split, with 54.70% going to Diaz and 45.30% to Benton in District 1.
In District 5, which had the most candidates, current Commissioner Rob Elliott was up against Mark Caruso, a former police officer, and firefighter/EMT Brandon Morrisey, who was running for office for the second time after failing to become Winter Springs’ mayor in 2022.
There were three people in that race, and Caruso won by 47.99% to 29.56% for Elliott and 22.45% for Morrisey. This was the second-widest margin of victory.
Caruso said, “It is surreal and makes me feel very humble.” He thanked his wife and the person who was in charge of his campaign. “We worked together a lot, and it took a lot of work.”
Alan Ott won the race and will now be Oviedo’s new City Councilman.
He ran against Darrell Lopez in Oviedo’s only run that was close. Ott got 57.42% of the vote, while Lopez only got 42.58%.
“I just want to thank you all so much for your help, for voting for me, and for believing in me,” Ott told his fans at a party last night.
The second time Oviedo tried to pass a bond vote to pay for a new Public Safety Building that would be the city’s police headquarters, it failed.
The new vote asked for $20 million to build a new building to replace the one that was built in 1990. There were 41.50% votes for it and 58.50% votes against it.
