FORT PIERCE, Fla. — A Fort Pierce special election will head to a runoff after none of the three candidates for District 2 county commissioner secured a majority of the vote.
According to the St. Lucie County Supervisor of Elections, Chris Dzadovsky received 39.9% of the vote and Jaimebeth Galinis received 30.7%, advancing both candidates to the Jan. 13 runoff.
Donna Benton earned 29.3% of the vote and will not move forward.
Voter turnout was 19.8%, with a total of 2,592 ballots cast.
WATCH: Fort Pierce voters head to polls to choose new city commissioner
The special election was called after former Commissioner James Taylor, 38, was arrested in July in a child exploitation case, and is facing 24 felony counts for allegedly sending a 12-year-old girl sexual messages. He later resigned his seat, which forced the special election.
City leaders estimated the special election to fill his seat would cost $60,000.
WPTV’s Tyler Hatfield pressed all three candidates, asking first about the nationwide search for a new police chief, with officers raising concerns in an internal survey about salary and leadership.
“We need to set them up for success,” said Benton. "We need to set them up so they can become residents of the community.”
“I think it's important that the folks who are going to be working together actually have a leader that they believe in,” said Dzadovsky.
“They're leaving and going to other police departments to be bigger, bolder, better, faster, safer, and that's what we need to bring back to the police department here,” said Galinis.
Hatfield also asked about growth and ongoing development projects, like Kings Landing, a luxury waterfront community, and Causeway Cove, a project that includes a 17-story building.
We’ve reported previously on Causeway Cove, which was approved under the Live Local Act, a state law allowing developers to bypass height and density restrictions if they include affordable housing.
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“I think we have to go back to be solid on our four stories, eight units per acre,” said Benton. “I already started working with legislators at the state level to have Live Local removed from barrier islands.”
“Focus on the ground floor of actually creating a better opportunity for better, smarter growth and maintaining the character of Fort Pierce,” said Dzadovsky.
Galinis said she wants to bring businesses to the Kings Highway corridor.
“Land that's available for these companies to set up, if not their primary location, then certainly a secondary location," said Galinis.
When it comes to the city’s public image and transparency, the candidates all had something to say to Hatfield.
“If we create that atmosphere at city hall with transparency,” said Benton. “That trust will be regained.”
“The amount of time I’ve spent in local government already is something that provides stability, it provides focus,” said Dzadovsky.
“The people who work inside the city and then the people who are viewing the city from the outside, there is a big disconnect right now, big gap there,” said Galinis.
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