Early voting starts Monday in the special runoff election to choose Apopka’s next mayor.
City voters will choose between two mayoral candidates: Apopka Commissioner Nick Nesta and Orange County Commissioner Christine Moore.
Current Apopka Mayor Bryan Nelson was eliminated in last month’s general election. Nesta received nearly 42% of the vote and Moore, nearly 32%.
It’s been a contentious race so far. Before being eliminated from the election, Nelson previously filed a lawsuit — now-dropped — against Moore, alleging she was trying to circumvent the city’s residency requirements for qualifying candidates.
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“She shouldn’t be on the ballot,” Nelson said of Moore back in January. On March 11, the day after Apopka’s general election, Nelson filed a court motion to voluntarily dismiss his lawsuit against her.
Since dismissing his lawsuit against Moore, Nelson has endorsed her candidacy for mayor. Nesta said the move didn’t surprise him, calling it “political self-preservation.”
“Truly, it's (an) endorsement I wasn't seeking, nor do I want, nor would have I accepted,” Nesta said. “You have two longtime career politicians that want to preserve themselves, and the only way to do that is to team up against somebody that is kind of anti-establishment, anti- what we've been doing.”
Nesta said his goal will be to “look at things in a totally different way” if he’s elected as the next mayor of Apopka.
“New leadership, new ideas, fresh perspectives and no favors owed to anybody,” he said.
Meanwhile, Moore said preserving Apopka’s history is something she’d prioritize if elected mayor.
“I've always honored and respected and promoted Apopka's history,” she said, referencing a book she co-wrote in 2017 about the history of the city and its elementary schools.
“Mr. Nesta says he wants to totally rebrand the city. And I will honor the past, and build upon that,” Moore said.
Moore was elected to the Orange County Commission in 2018 and also served on the county School Board for 10 years, starting in 2008. She has been endorsed by seven fellow former School Board members with whom she served, according to her campaign.
Nesta has served on the Apopka City Commission for two consecutive terms, beginning in 2022. His mayoral campaign has been endorsed by the Apopka Professional Firefighters Association.
If elected, Nesta said he’d prioritize clearing up the many “question marks” that he says currently exist around the city’s financials and budgeting process.
“We're taking in all these tax dollars, the real estate tax dollars, we're taking in all the impact fees, but our infrastructure has not improved,” Nesta said. “So where’s this money going, and where’s it being invested?”
A proposal to get to the bottom of that question, by commissioning a forensic audit of the city’s finances, was brought forth by Nelson at Wednesday’s City Commission meeting.
At the meeting, Nesta said that, while he’d ultimately like to see an audit happen, it shouldn’t be overseen by the outgoing commission. Nesta called the audit now being proposed by Nelson “tainted” and “a mess.”
“I want an audit. I just don't want you to do it,” Nesta said Wednesday, addressing Nelson. But in the end, Nesta voted in favor of the audit.
Apopka Commissioner Nadia L. Anderson called the situation “politically motivated.”
Ultimately, commissioners voted 3-2 against moving forward with a forensic audit.
As for the audit discussion, Moore said the commission’s time would be better spent elsewhere: “I think it's a witch hunt. And frankly, the time and energy of the new administration needs to be moving forward.”
If elected, Moore said, she’d prioritize infrastructure improvements for Apopka, leaning on her past experience raising hundreds of millions of dollars for the county to help move homes off septic tanks and onto centralized sewer service.
“Infrastructure is the big difference. I have (more) experience there,” Moore said.
On Monday through Sunday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., city voters can cast early ballots at the Apopka Community Center, 519 South Central Ave. On Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., they can also vote early at the Supervisor of Elections Office, 119 West Kaley St. in Orlando.
Election Day itself is Tuesday, April 14, when polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. There are two polling locations; residents can go to the city’s website to determine which polling site they should use.
