Steven Leary, Greg Seidel win Winter Park election

Say hello to your new mayor, Winter Park.

Steven Leary took the open seat of Winter Park Mayor on Tuesday after defeating Cynthia Mackinnon in a tight election, earning 52.88 percent of the vote.

The new mayor of Winter Park came away with 3.512 votes over Mackinnon’s 3,130 votes, and celebrated his victory among a group of supporters at Hannibal’s on the Square.

“I’m very proud and I’m proud of the citizens of Winter Park,” Leary said. “We’re proud of the campaign we ran and we’re excited for the future.”

Leary brings four years of experience as a Winter Park City Commissioner to his newly elected position and said he hopes to tackle the issues with growth in Winter Park head on.

“Some of the things we heard on this campaign trail have merit,” Leary said. “I think we need to address those and bring those to the forefront.”

“Growth is a major issue – it’s impacting traffic, it’s impacting development and it’s impacting our ecosystem. It’s all growth issues and we need to take care of it.”

Greg Seidel meanwhile came out on top in the race for the open City Commission seat over opponent Gary Brewer, capturing 56.15 percent of the vote.

“I’m looking forward to what’s next,” Seidel said. “This is all new to me.”

“I’m very pleased….”

Winter Park’s newest City Commissioner previously served as the city utility advisory board chairman and currently works as the vice president of The Balmoral Group, an engineering design firm with an expertise in economics, environmental analysis and GIS capabilities.

He hopes to address how the city spends its electric fund and solve the city’s traffic problems.

“I’ve heard a lot about electrical funding being diverted to other things, such as Dr. Phillips,” Seidel said. “I want to find out more about that and how that can sort itself out.”

Seidel commented on how civil his race was against Brewer.

“We both appreciated that we ran the campaigns the way we did,” Seidel said.

“I ran a campaign based on how I am and who I am. I figured if Winter Park wanted to elect me, it would.”

Leary and Seidel will be sworn in during the March 23 City Commission meeting, city spokesperson Clarissa Howard said.