Lake Wales Mayor Jack Hilligoss earned a second term Tuesday, easily repelling a challenge from former City Commissioner Curtis Gibson Jr.
Hilligoss captured 61% of the vote, compared with 39% for Gibson, according to unofficial results posted Tuesday night by the Polk County Supervisor of Elections Office. Hilligoss, lead pastor of HighPoint Church, received 1,390 votes, while Gibson collected 890.
The election drew the involvement of Floridians for Senior Care, a political action committee based in Tampa. The group sent multiple mailers and text messages to Lake Wales voters, either promoting Hilligoss or attacking Gibson.
Hilligoss said that he was not involved with the coordinated effort to help his campaign and did not know who was responsible. The PAC’s treasurer, Wendy White, is affiliated with Strategic Image Management, a consulting firm known for using aggressive tactics to promote conservative and Republican legislative candidates. The Lake Wales mayoral race is nonpartisan.
Lake Wales voters approved a City Charter amendment that will require runoff elections in any race when no candidate gains a majority of the votes cast. The measure, which gained 75.4% approval, will take effect next year.
Hilligoss captured the mayor’s position in 2022 with 43.8% of the vote in a three-way race. Last year, Commissioner Daniel Williams won reelection by four votes over Brandon Alvarado, taking 42.3% of the votes among three candidates.
Fellows prevails in Davenport
In Davenport, Tom Fellows defeated Timothy “Scott” Woodlee for Seat 3 on the City Commission, capturing 55.8% of the vote.
Davenport voters rejected three of four proposed city charter amendments. The failing amendments would have changed the term limits for the mayor and city commissioners, required a super-majority commission vote to remove the city manager or city clerk and increased the number of citizens needed to commence a Petitioner’s Committee.
Voters approved a fourth proposal to repeal a prohibition on converting septic tanks to central sewer service. That measure was needed to conform with state environmental requirements.
Town of Dundee
In the Town of Dundee, challenger Annette Wilson ousted recently appointed incumbent Alethea Pugh in the race for Commission Seat 2. Wilson collected 61.6% of the vote.
In the race for Seat 4, incumbent Commissioner Mary Richardson defeated Julia Hunt 280 to 257. That amounted to 52.1% for Richardson.
A runoff in Haines City
In Haines City, incumbent City Commissioner Anne Huffman led a four-way race for Seat 5. Huffman gathered 46.9% of the vote, as Horace West received 36.9%. Because Huffman fell short of a majority, she and West will face a runoff election.
The other two candidates, Edwin Perez and Alisa Romero, collected 14.1% and 2.1% of the vote, respectively.
Five-vote margin in Lake Alfred
Lake Alfred held a multiple-choice election for three City Commission seats. The three candidates receiving the most votes — Nancy Z. Daley (22.5%), Mac Fuller (20.9%) and Ronnie Robinson Jr. (15.8%) — gained election.
The race included three other candidates: Michael Teague (14.9%), Brenda Arnold (13.3%) and Wanda Maultsby-Daley (12.6%).
Lake Hamilton mayor is ousted
Challenger Phyllis Hall easily ousted Lake Hamilton Mayor Marlene M. Wagner, capturing 62.7% of the vote. Wagner received 37.3%.
Incumbent Robert Mathis fended off challenger Larry Dale Tomlinson by five votes, winning 75-70 in the race for Seat 2 on the Town Council. That translated to 51.7% for Mathis and 48.3% for Tomlinson.
Mulberry challenger unseats incumbent
Kathy Smith Barsotti unseated Mulberry City Commissioner Robert Knight in the race for District 2. Barsotti received 130 votes, or 51.4%, to 123, or 48.7%, for Knight.
Overall turnout was 11.6%, the Polk Elections Office reported.
Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on X @garywhite13.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Polk County municipal elections 2025: A wild night as some incumbents fall, others win easily
Reporting by Gary White, Lakeland Ledger / The Ledger
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