Julie Carson is the Mayor-elect of Wilton Manors. She won by a convincing margin, defeating Paul Rolli 63% to 33%.

Those results mirror the September endorsement vote of the Dolphin Democrats, Broward County’s LGBTQ organization. The city is predominantly LGBTQ and its endorsement is often a key indicator of the electorate’s mood.

The city will need to navigate two major obstacles: the loss of tax revenue due to raising the homestead exemption to $250,000 and the new anti-DEI law that takes effect Jan. 1.

“It’s going to be very difficult,” she said in her first interview after the results came in. “I’ve already had conversations with some city vendors who reached out and said they will take the lead in funding. I think it’s going to be a creative exercise.”

The city also voted to empower the city manager or assistant city manager to fill commission or mayoral vacancies, cutting the governor out of the process. While that includes resignations and illness, the motivation was to limit the governor’s power if he removes an elected official.

Two commission seats were up for grabs, with four candidates vying for power. Don D’Arminio was easily reelected and the top vote getter. Coming in second is Angel Burgos. That leaves Scott Newton off the commission. Newton is the current mayor who stepped back to run for commission. Manish Kalra was a distant fourth.

Development, or the lack thereof, and sewage/drainage infrastructure were the key issues and all the candidates were substantively aligned. 

Broward County will certify the results Nov. 16. The new commission will organize and select a vice mayor Nov. 24 at 6 p.m., followed by the regular commission meeting at 7 p.m.

The election results broadly tracked OutSFL’s September reader survey, which showed Carson leading Rolli 57% to 26%, with 15% undecided. Burgos and D’Arminio led the survey’s first-choice commission question, though D’Arminio finished ahead of Burgos in the election.