Tallahassee City Commissioner Jeremy Matlow has defeated former state Senator Loranne Ausley to become the city's next mayor.
Matlow received about 51 percent of the vote, maintaining an edge over Ausley by about 1,300 votes. The local business owner has served on the City Commission since 2018 and will succeed outgoing Mayor John Dailey, who did not seek reelection.
Matlow campaigned on challenging developer influence at City Hall, lowering utility costs and redirecting infrastructure spending toward neighborhood needs. He also opposed the transfer of Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare to Florida State University.
After the results rolled in, Matlow gave a victory speech to the crowd of supporters gathered for election night at Proof Brewing Company.
"Now's the time to bring our community back together. We've heard some nasty things, and that's okay. We have tough skin, but we have a new working majority that's going to listen to everyday people in our neighborhoods. As mayor, I will assemble the city commission to hear the priorities they learned on the campaign trail and finally craft an agenda that works for all of you," he said.
Matlow wasn't the only victory that group was celebrating Tuesday. PJ Perez, who Matlow supported, also was elected to the commission. The victory upends the 3-2 split dynamic, now giving a three-commissioner voting bloc of Matlow, Perez and Commissioner Jack Porter control of the commission.
Matlow said his and PJ's victory signal that Tallahassee voters want change at city hall.
“This is the culmination of eight years of work ready to reform city government. You know, we brought the message directly to the people. Hundreds of volunteers knocked 50,000 doors plus, and people are ready for a change. I think we have a clear mandate that the old way of doing business isn't good enough," he said in an interview with WFSU.
The race for Tallahassee Mayor was an expensive one. Ausley's campaigned raised over $600,000, while Matlow's raised over $300,000. That's not counting money spent through other political committees that supported either candidate.
To close out his victory speech, Matlow had a message for those that have opposed him.
"Even to our detractors, if you're serious about improving Tallahassee, if you're serious about making Tallahassee a better city, and it's not just about personal profits to you, we want you on our team also because this community can only go forward together," he said.
Matlow will be sworn in as Tallahassee Mayor on November 16th, during the city commission's reorganization meeting.
