Elections 2024: Four candidates vying for City Council District 3 job in Cape Coral

Phil Fernandez, Naples Daily News
·1 min read

Four candidates are vying to become the next Cape Coral council member for District 3 in Lee County.

District 3 includes the east quadrant of mid-Cape Coral, but the voting is done citywide for the four-year term. All eligible voters, regardless of party affiliation, will be able to cast their ballots in the non-partisan elections scheduled for Aug. 20. The two with the highest totals advance to the Nov. 5 general election. Incumbent Tom Hayden is not seeking reelection.

Cape Coral has a council-manager form of government with seven districts with population sizes that are as equal as possible and follow the center lines of streets or canals. Council members are paid a base annual salary of $37,400. Last year, the council approved monthly stipends worth another $40,000 annually.

Elections: Mail and early voting for Lee County 2024 primary election: Here's what you need to know

Chad Bruening
Chad Bruening

Here are the four candidates for Cape Coral City Council District 3

  • Chad Bruening

  • Derrick Donnell

Derrick Donnell
Derrick Donnell

  • Daniel J. Ludlow

  • Deborah Lee McCormick

What are employment backgrounds of the four Cape District 3 candidates?

Daniel J. Ludlow
Daniel J. Ludlow

  • A Kansas native who discovered the Cape in 2021, Bruening is a commercial project manager for Envirostruct.

  • A resident for almost 30 years, Donnell is a previous council member and former school principal and teacher.

  • Owning a small business, Ludlow describes himself as a disabled U.S. Navy veteran, originally from New York.

  • McCormick, a retiree, worked as a career civil servant for 35 years including with the tax collector's office.

Deborah L. McCormick
Deborah L. McCormick

Look for more on the races, the candidates and what they have to say in future editions of the News-Press.

Based at the Naples Daily News, Columnist Phil Fernandez (pfernandez@gannett.com) grew up in Southwest Florida and has led Pulitzer Prize-winning efforts. He writes In the Know, one of USA TODAY Network's most read local news columns in the state. Support democracy. Subscribe to a newspaper.

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: With Hayden out, for vie for his Cape Coral council seat in elections