FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - Fort Lauderdale residents are getting ready to voice their choice and elect the city’s new mayor.
Two city commissioners are currently taking each other head-on in a fight to be the city’s leader.
Dean Trantalis is a lawyer hoping to become the first openly gay mayor of Fort Lauderdale, and he’s facing off against the city’s former police chief and current Vice Mayor Bruce Roberts.
Both candidates kicked their campaigns into overdrive in an effort to win over voters.
“I love Fort Lauderdale, we have made some great strides, and I want to continue to serve,” Roberts said.
“I’m not afraid to step up to the plate and speak out on the issues that now confront us,” Trantalis said.
Among the issues front and center in the race include traffic and development as well as transportation and infrastructure upgrades.
“We talked about not going forward with the wave street car, but we also need to look at other modes of transportation to move our public, especially the downtown area, because we’re going to continue to develop downtown as an urban core, and that’s one thing that we’re looking to do in the future — continue that development, but we’re going to need to move our traffic back and forth as part of a multi-modal transportation system.”
“If we overbuild or if we build in the wrong places, we’re going to find ourselves confounded by the results of these, and the consequences of ignoring smart growth practices is going to be a place where people are not going to want to move to,” Trantalis said.
In January’s primary election, Trantalis won 46 percent of the vote and Roberts brought in 31 percent.
Since neither candidate won 50 percent of the vote, Tuesday’s runoff election will determine the next mayor. The election winner succeeds mayor Jack Seiler, who was first elected nine years ago and has reached his term limit.
Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, but anyone who is in line by 7 p.m. will be allowed to cast a ballot.
You must vote at your precinct. To find your precinct, click here.
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