VERO BEACH — Former mayor Warren Winchester notified City Clerk Tammy Vock Tuesday morning that he is dropping out of his candidacy for one of two Vero Beach City Council seats on the Nov. 5 ballot.
Winchester, 81, cited health concerns that were known by him at the time he qualified for office. Winchester had told our sister publication, Vero Beach 32963 that he would not seek office due to receiving regular chemotheraphy treatments, but then just days later, turned in qualifying paperwork and took the candidates’ oath anyway. Those same health issues have now caused him to withdraw.
Winchester wrote to Vock, “Tammy, you of all people know how much I care about the City of Vero Beach. Service to the community is a unique honor and one I have enjoyed in so many ways.Sadly, my cancer has returned, and with that, I am back on chemotherapy. I find that I must withdraw from the race this time around. Please take action to notify the Supervisor of elections.”
He continued, “Because of my love for the City I certainly would prefer to stay in the race but I know that it would not be fair to those who have supported me ain (sic) the past and would again. Thank you for all the help you have rendered over the years.”
In past weeks, Winchester said he had been disappointed to not receive the endorsement of the Indian River Neighborhood Association, an organization he worked closely with for decades, and that he would attend an Oct. 15 meeting of the IRNA to address this with the group’s members.
Winchester’s departure leaves five active candidates, including incumbent Vice Mayor Tracy Carroll, Councilman Dick Winger and challengers Amelia Graves, Joseph Guffanti and former councilman Brian Heady.
“Warren Winchester’s name will still appear on the ballot because all of the ballots (absentee and election day) have been printed,” said Supervisor of Elections Leslie Swan Tuesday.
“Our staff will place a sign in all voting booths on Election Day noting that Mr. Winchester has withdrawn from the race. We will also try to include the ‘withdrawn’ over his name on the sample ballot for the newspaper if it is not too late to make the change (the ad has already been typeset.),” Swan said. “We will include a memo in all newly requested absentee ballots that states that Mr. Winchester has withdrawn from the race.”
Winchester’s name is printed on the hundreds of absentee ballots that have already been mailed out to voters. According to the Supervisor of Elections website, 129 absentee ballots have already been returned in the Vero Beach municipal election as of Tuesday.
