Sanford mayor’s race heads to runoff, as District 1 elects first Black commissioner
Sanford Mayor Art Woodruff and challenger Charles Davis will square off during the Nov. 8 general election after neither one received more than 50% of the votes cast in Tuesday’s elections.
While in the city’s District 1 race, Commissioner Sheena Rena Britton became the first Black commissioner elected to represent the predominantly white district, which includes the downtown and the city’s historic neighborhoods and the area around the Orlando Sanford International Airport.
Of the 2,719 votes cast, Britton received just over 57%. Her opponent, Christina Hollerbach, earned over 42% of the vote.
Britton also becomes only the fourth Black resident elected to the five-member commission in the 145-year-history of Sanford, a city with past racial tensions.
Britton follows Bob Thomas, a commissioner from 1984 to 1995; Velma Williams, from 1995 to 2018, and current Commissioner Kerry Wiggins, who was first elected in 2018 and won re-election on Tuesday. However, Thomas, Williams and Wiggins all represented District 2, which is made up mostly of the historic Black community of Goldsboro.
Britton could not be reached for comment.
Britton was appointed commissioner in mid-2020 by the board to replace Woodruff, who was selected as mayor to replace Jeff Triplett. At the time, Triplett had resigned as Sanford’s mayor to run for Seminole property appraiser.
Of the 7,978 votes cast in the mayor’s race, Woodruff received just over 47% of the votes, and Davis garnered just over 31%. The other two candidates, Chan Robinson and Christopher d’Hedouville, received almost 17% and just over 3% respectively. Candidates must receive more than 50% of the votes cast to be elected.
Woodruff and Davis faced each other in an election runoff in 2014 for the District 1 seat. Woodruff was elected that time.
“When you have four candidates, it’s hard to get to that more-than-50% threshold,” Davis said.
Still, Davis said he looks forward to campaigning for the mayor’s seat over the next several weeks.
“The main takeaway for me is that 53% of the people that voted are saying that Sanford needs a change in leadership,” he said. “Because, otherwise, they would have voted for Woodruff.”
Davis said he will focus his campaign on responsible growth and “making sure our police and fire department are well funded.”
Woodruff said Sanford has been successful in creating a vibrant downtown district with restaurants and breweries that draw visitors from throughout the region.
However, that success has had its drawbacks, specifically the lack of parking during large events and loud noise that extends into the early morning hours, disturbing residents who live in the surrounding neighborhoods.
It’s now important for the city to “balance that nightlife with the residents who live right there,” Woodruff said.
He noted Sanford must focus on retaining police officers and firefighters, who often get experience in Sanford at the start of their careers. But they soon move on to other agencies that offer higher salaries.
“We are traditionally not at the top,” said Woodruff, regarding public safety salaries. “We also have the issues of people not joining police departments. They are not going into that career as much anymore.”
