Groveland voters reject Councilwoman Judith Fike after offensive social media posts
By Joe Byrnes
August 20, 2025 at 11:07 AM EDT
Voters rejected Groveland City Council member Judith Fike in a primary election on Tuesday.
Fike, who was appointed to the District 4 seat in December, received 14% of the vote in a three-way race.
The City Council suspended Fike earlier this summer over offensive social media posts. The posts at issue included racist and apparently anti-gay content. Fike apologized but said the examples made public had been altered.
Jim O’Neil (491x576, AR: 0.8524305555555556)
She took her suspension to court and was reinstated.
Early results show Jim O'Neil received 496 votes, two more than he needed to reach 50%. That would make him the outright winner, but those early results are not official yet -- and don’t include provisional ballots or mail-in ballots with issues still to be cleared up.
According to O’Neil's campaign website and public statements, he is a retired Navy officer and Explosive Ordnance Disposal diver who later worked as a contractor for the State Department. Other jobs include being the first CEO of the South Lake County Community Foundation and a risk manager for Lake County School.
Michael Jaycox came in second with 36% of the vote. If the official count changes the tally, he could end up in a runoff with O'Neil.
The official results will be released on Friday if no recount is required, according to the Lake County Supervisor of Elections Office.
Fike, who was appointed to the District 4 seat in December, received 14% of the vote in a three-way race.
The City Council suspended Fike earlier this summer over offensive social media posts. The posts at issue included racist and apparently anti-gay content. Fike apologized but said the examples made public had been altered.
Jim O’Neil (491x576, AR: 0.8524305555555556)
She took her suspension to court and was reinstated.
Early results show Jim O'Neil received 496 votes, two more than he needed to reach 50%. That would make him the outright winner, but those early results are not official yet -- and don’t include provisional ballots or mail-in ballots with issues still to be cleared up.
According to O’Neil's campaign website and public statements, he is a retired Navy officer and Explosive Ordnance Disposal diver who later worked as a contractor for the State Department. Other jobs include being the first CEO of the South Lake County Community Foundation and a risk manager for Lake County School.
Michael Jaycox came in second with 36% of the vote. If the official count changes the tally, he could end up in a runoff with O'Neil.
The official results will be released on Friday if no recount is required, according to the Lake County Supervisor of Elections Office.