One of the busiest and arguably contentious races this Tallahassee election season has been the bid for city commission seat 3, which is currently held by mayoral candidate Jeremy Matlow.
But the race is far from over.
Since no candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote in the primary, the race has slipped into a runoff and a pesky recount between Tom Derzypolski, Talethia Edwards and PJ Perez.
Derzypolski's and Edwards' results fall within the margin for a machine recount, according to Florida law. The two candidates are split by 24 votes.
"I think Tallahassee is speaking pretty clearly that it's time for a new way of governing where we do so leading with respect and encourage the discussion of new ideas in a respectful way without teams and factions and 3-2 votes," Derzypolski said.
Perez, who received 29 percent of the vote, will advance to a runoff election and face whichever candidate comes out on top.
"This is telling us where the city wants to be heading as a community and so for me, I'll just continue to plug away at what we've been talking about," Perez said.
The candidates celebrated with family and friends but agreed that the work must continue.
"This open seat gives a bit of a shake up to the city commission and a lot of people are looking for fresh ideas and people who have had their ears to the ground," Edwards said.
The race has been one of the most heated contests of the season with negative ads, accusations of divisive campaigning tactics, and controversial social media posts.
The seat stretches across the neighborhoods of Northeast Tallahassee, including Midtown, and has been held by Matlow for nearly eight years.
According to the Leon County Supervisor of Elections Office, the position earns $99,167 annual salary.
The runoff election will occur on Nov. 3 during the general election, and the candidate with more than 50% of the vote will win the bid.
