Cape Coral City Council sees one incumbent voted out, 2 others move on to Nov. election

The Cape Coral City Council could be flipped upside down, as the contenders for four seats have been narrowed down on this Primary Day.

Already one of the incumbents will not be on the general election ballot.

The top two vote-getters will face off in the general election in November.

The results are as follows:

District 2

• Laurie Lehmann – winner with 40.8% of the vote
• Dan Sheppard (Incumbent) – winner with 32.7% of the vote
• Craig Unroe – received 26.5% of the vote

District 3 (Current rep. not seeking re-election)

• Chad Bruening – received 17.3% of the vote
• Derrick Donnell – winner with 32.2% of the vote
• Daniel J. Ludlow – received 20.7% of the vote
• Deborah Lee McCormick – winner with 29.8% of the vote

District 4

• Richard Carr (Incumbent) – winner with 25.9% of the vote
• William Matthews – received 22.7% of the vote
• Jennifer I. Nelson – winner with 34.5% of the vote
• Robert Sutter – received 17.0% of the vote

District 5

• Jason Conzelman – received 11.1% of the vote
• Joseph Kilraine – winner with 32.6% of the vote
• Charlie Pease – winner with 34.4% of the vote
• Robert Welsh (Incumbent) – received 21.9% of the vote

Welsh was the only incumbent who did not make the cut.

Pease snagged the top stop for Welsh’s former district.

“Excited to hopefully represent Cape Coral come November,” said Pease outside of 1025 where he celebrated. “I think our residents are ready for a change. I think that there are many people in our community who just feel like people haven’t listened to them.”

The other two incumbents, District 2’s Dan Sheppard and District 4’s Richard Carr, will be on the ballot in November. But the incumbents have a fight ahead of them as they came in second in Tuesday’s primary.

In a statement Carr said, “I am honored to have received enough support from our residents to advance to the general election. I want to thank the other candidates for their participation in the campaign; I’ve appreciated their insight and commitment to our city. I will work hard to earn the confidence and votes of those I didn’t reach in the primary. I am eager to continue representing our city as the District 4 Councilmember and to help guide our growing community forward.”

Jennifer Nelson snagged the top spot against Carr. Outside Nice Guys Pizza, where she celebrated with family and friends, she said, “I think definitely we need to restore peace to our city government – between our city government and our residents.”

When asked why she ran in the first place, Nelson said, “It was definitely some decisions that council had been making in the last two years, and definitely some disappointment with decisions that were not, in my opinion, appropriate, and I don’t feel they were in the best interest of our city.”

Candidate Laurie Lehman also took the top spot over an incumbent, District 2’s Dan Sheppard.

On the phone, Lehmann said, “People want a new council, they wanted all new faces in there.”

But, she added, the win didn’t take the weight off her shoulders, “The way I look at it, now the real work starts.”

Donnell, the front runner for District 3 may not have run against any incumbents as Tom Hayden didn’t run for re-election, but Donnell has served on the council.

“If I’m so elected, I will be the member that has the most experience, and that’s going to be very important as we start to move down the role of trying to deal with these other issues that are coming.

Locals have long vocalized their discontent with the current council.

Cape Coral residents have passionately defended against the proposed changes to Jaycee Park, stating that further development is unnecessary.

The council also attempted to impose a monthly stipend for expenses for taking over the Community Redevelopment Agency.

The stipend granted the mayor an additional $5,000 monthly and each council member $3,300 monthly.

Locals were furious as the vote was not taken to the public.

Water and utilities continued to cause residents massive headaches, as the price tag for the Utilities Extension Project aimed to increase rates by 11% per year.

Water, wastewater and fire line rates will also increase by 5%, effective Oct. 1, 2027.

We spoke with incumbent Dan Sheppard on the phone. He said he appreciates citizens’ support and looks forward to the challenges as he moves on with the general election.

Our big question going into Cape Coral races was whether neighbors’ threats to vote for the new council would come true.

It did for Welsh. As for Carr and Sheppard, we will see them come November.

The general election will be held on Nov. 5.