Winter Springs election decided by nail-biter finish

Winter Springs Mayor: Kevin McCann vs. Jesse Phillips

With the election closing in on 10 p.m. Mayor Kevin McCann was holding a slim lead he’d held for much of the night with only one precinct left to report in Winter Springs. He led by just 112 votes, less than 1%, and appeared to have won re-election.

“Today when I was standing in front of the polls and waving and the number of neighbors and friends and people that stopped and honked the horn yelling, ‘We voted for you Kev!,’ it made it all worth it,” McCann said.

This is his first time being re-elected to office. He had been appointed to a partial term before being elected in 2022. With few outstanding votes remaining he appeared to fend off challenger Jesse Phillips.

“I think my opponent ran a very very strong campaign although it’s not the kind of campaign I would ever run, negative and some dark stuff, but I came to peace with it either way you know.”

McCann said he looked forward to getting back to work as mayor of Winter Springs.

“Tomorrow instead of thinking about the election every day when I get out of bed I have to get back and focused on the work that must be done and keeping the ball moving forward,” he said. “I think we’ve got a lot to be grateful for and maybe now that the election is over we can call for some peace and maybe everybody can remember we’re neighbors and bring the tone down.”

District 2: Victoria Bruce vs. Ken Spalthoff

Winter Springs Commissioner Victoria Bruce claimed a big victory Tuesday night, with a margin large enough that by 7:45 p.m. she already had enough votes to solidify re-election to the District 2 seat. As of 8:22 p.m. with 9 of 10 precincts reporting she was leading by 58.12% with 9,258 votes, compared to Ken Spalthoff who had 41.88% of the vote with 6,670 votes as the final precinct was being tabulated.

“We have a record of really delivering and turning this city around,” Bruce said Tuesday night. “All the support we’re so grateful for.”

Bruce said that the city’s track record of addressing water and infrastructure issues helped propel her to re-election.

“We’re looking forward to the next four more years,” she said. “We’re going to get a lot more done now.” 

District 4: Cade Resnick vs. Kyle Stewart

Winter Springs District 4 Commissioner Cade Resnick was the projected victory by a slimmer but still comfortable margin in his re-election campaign against pastor Kyle Stewart. With unofficial results showing 9 out of 10 precincts reporting at 8:25 p.m. Tuesday, Resnick was leading by 52.93% and 8,353 votes against Stewart’s 47.07% with 7,429 votes with some ballots still outstanding.

“I worked hard is all I can say,” Resnick said on election night. “I was hopeful for this. I think it’s an indictment on infrastructure matters. I think the residents wanted us to focus on infrastructure and infrastructure safety.”

Water issues, particularly water quality and the state of the city’s water systems, which are currently undergoing a more than $100 million overhaul, were big issues with voters, Resnick said. He pointed to the Jesse Phillips campaign highlighting water issues in the city.

“In a similar way Phillips has run a campaign saying there’s a problem with utilities and I think people agree with that statement but they like McCann’s personality,” Resnick said. “I think that message is very similar to mine in that people want clean water. They want water not coming into their homes. Either of those people can still win, but I think they want a calm voice.”