SEBASTIAN — Voters now know who will be representing them on the Sebastian City Council dais as the polls have closed and results are in.
This year’s Sebastian Council race was straight forward and low-key, with no fireworks, mud-slinging or major disagreements on the key issues. The direction of the early voting and mailed-in ballots held true to the end, as the two incumbents in the contest kept their seats in a five-way race.
Jim Hill, who will be serving his sixth term on Council, easily took and held an early lead, emerging as the strongest candidate with 4,439 votes.
“I’m feeling very good about the results. I think they show that the people of Sebastian are happy with the way the City is moving forward,” said Hill.
Incumbent Jerome Adams came in second with 3,139 votes, followed closely by Damien Gilliams, a frequent Council candidate, who trailed by a mere 254 vote by night’s end, ending up with a total of 2,885.
“I’m pleased and happy the people have honored me with another two years,” Adams said. “It will, possibly, be a challenging year or two, and with Council and Staff we should be able to address the challenge and do very well moving forward. ”
The other three contenders, Ed Herlihy, who received 2,003 votes, and Al Iovino, with 1,747, were first-time candidates, and Damien Gilliams.
Gilliams’ post-election message was both conciliatory and a bit defiant: “Never give up. Our numbers are trending up, our message is getting out, and the citizens are starting to connect the dots. We’ll make [the City Council] accountable on the environment, on the budget, and to the community. Congratulations to the winners. Ed Herlihy and Albert Iovino ran nice, clean campaigns and I hope they stay involved.”
Herlihy, who has served on the City’s budget advisory committee, said he’d continue to help the City.
“Well, we’ve tried hard,” Herlihy said. “That’s the breaks of politics. The incumbents got back in and we’ve had a pretty good City Council so I’ll work behind the scenes to try to get the things I want done, done. And congratulations to the winners.”
Early Voting and Absentee Ballots have been tallied and the results from 4 of 4 precincts have been released. They are as follows:
City of Sebastian City Council (Vote up to 2)
- Jerome Adams – 3,139
- Damien Gilliams – 2,885
- Edward H. Herlihy –2,003
- Jim Hill – 4,439
- Albert Iovino – 1,747
