Dreyer, Martin Gregory head to runoff for District 4

Lori Martin Gregory, a candidate for Ocala City Council District 4, center, gets a hug from Marion County Tax Collector George Albright, left, as Patricia Schafer, right, celebrates with her at the Hilton Garden Inn on the Ocala Downtown Square in Ocala on Tuesday. Gregory advanced to a runoff election against Kristen Dreyer. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette]

Kristen Dreyer and Lori Martin Gregory will go to a runoff on Nov. 16 for the Ocala City Council District 4 seat.

Kristen Dreyer

Dryer and Martin Gregory advanced out of the crowded field of candidates. According to unofficial results posted to the Marion County Supervisor of Elections website on Tuesday evening, Dreyer came out on top with the highest total number of votes out of the six candidates vying for the seat, garnering 2,822 votes, or 30.95% of the total.

“It feels great to have gotten the most of votes,” said Dreyer.

Martin Gregory came in second behind Dreyer, with 26.79%, or 2,443 votes.  Barbra Fitos fell just 231 votes short of Martin Gregory to come in third place with 24.46% of the vote.  No other candidate in the race surpassed 9% of the vote.

“I had great opponents in the election, I was proud to stand with them,” Dreyer said of the packed race.

As no candidate received over 50% of the vote, the race now heads for a runoff, which Dreyer knows will require some effort.

“We worked hard for the votes we earned,” she declared, “and we’ll work 10x harder in the runoff.”

Lori Martin Gregory

Martin Gregory did not return a request for comment.

The District 4 race was the lone special election on the ballot, as the seat was vacated by Matthew Wardell, who announced he would leave the seat effective Aug. 18.

The term runs through 2023, but the winner of the upcoming runoff election will have to go through a special election in 2022.