VERO BEACH — Vero Beach Mayor Pilar Turner, Vice Mayor Craig Fletcher and Councilman Jay Kramer are leading the 7-way race for the Vero Beach City Council after early and absentee ballots have been counted.
As of 8:20 p.m., with five precincts of five reporting, Fletcher has taken the lead from Turner with 3,450 votes to 3,412. Kramer rounds out the top three with 3,318 votes.
In fourth is Brian Heady with 2,669. Dan Stump is in fifth with 2,104, with Nick Thomas behind with 1,676. In seventh is Karen Kozdra with 1,008 votes.
The top three vote-getters will be sworn in Friday morning and then join Councilwoman Tracy Carroll and Councilman Dick Winger when they select a mayor and vice mayor.
The next regular City Council meeting is Tuesday Nov. 13 when Winger said he will ask that his fellow City Council members vote on whether to bring the sale of the electrical utility to the voters in a form of a referendum.