OCALA, Fla. — With 100% of precincts reporting, Ocala Mayor Kent Guinn has been reelected over challenger Manal Fakhoury.

The mayor's election was not close, with Guinn taking about 66% of the vote to Fakhoury's 34%.

Ocala mayoral race

Guinn, had been seeking his sixth term as mayor, and was up against Fakhoury, who ran as a political newcomer.

She works in the medical field and holds a doctorate in pharmacy from the University of Southern California. She is an immigrant who has lived in Ocala for 35 years and has been active with community groups. 

Throughout the race, Guinn pointed to his record as mayor as a reason for reelecting him, pointing to big companies like FedEx and AutoZone bringing facilities to Ocala and creating jobs. He promised to continue to work on economic development, lowering crime and dealing with homelessness.

Guinn’s family has been in Ocala since 1850. He’s touts himself as a fifth generation Ocalan. Before he was mayor, he was on the city council. Guinn is also in the financial business.

The mayor’s position does not have a vote on the city council, but does have veto power and oversees the police department. Mayors serve two-year terms, and their salaries are capped at $550 a month.

City Council races

In the city council, district seats 1, 3 and 5 were up for reelection, and a special election was held for the district 4 seat.

The city council makes decisions, oversees the city manager, attorney, clerk and auditor. They are elected to four year terms with a monthly salary of $250.

District 1

President Pro-Tem Brent Malever lost to Barry Mansfield, with the final vote tally of 52.1% to 47.9%. District 1 is an at-large district, meaning it represents all of Ocala.

Malever had been in the council since 2013. He was born in Ocala and is a local financial businessman.

Manfield is a long-time resident who is president and CEO of Cullison-Wright Construction. 

District 3

Jay Musleh was running for reelection against Russell “Rusty” Juergens and Ty Schlichter.

None of the three candidates received more than 50% of the vote, so the highest two vote-getters — Musleh and Schlichter — will be heading into a runoff election on Nov. 16.

Musleh is a third-generation Ocalan who joined the council in 2013. He is senior vice president for CenterState Bank.

Schlichter is another longtime Ocala resident who is vice president at Central Florida Electric. 

District 4

Incumbent Matthew Wardell left the council before his term expired, leaving six candidates vying for the open seat.

Again, none of the candidates received more than 50% of the vote, so the top two — Kristen Dreyer and Lori Gregory — are also headed for a runoff election Nov. 16.

• Dreyer is a real estate agent for Remax in Ocala, and she has served on several boards.
• Gregory is the CEO of Seventh Chakra Films, making documentaries. 

District 5

Also an open seat after Council President Justin Grabelle decided not to run for reelection, the race for District 5 was close, but James P. Hilty won with 50.7% of the vote to Greg Steen's 49.3%.

Hilty is a financial advisor who served on the council before, from 2013 to 2017. He came to Ocala in 1990 and is a Vietnam veteran. 

Steen is president of Family’s Choice Electric Repair Inc. He was born and raised in Ocala and is also a Guardian ad Litem. 

3 charter amendments

In addition to the city races, voters decided on three amendments to the city’s charter Tuesday. All three amendments passed by sizable margins.

The first one will change the way special elections are run to bring them more in line with federal and state law, by removing the deadline for the elections to happen and holding them instead “as soon as reasonably practical.”

The second will change the terms of office for mayors and City Council members by having the terms begin as soon as a candidate is deemed elected and sworn into office, and ending when the next councilperson begins his or her term.

The final amendment will change the pronouns for positions in city government. Currently all pronouns in the charter refer to males. Changes will add “he or her/she” where applicable. Councilmen would become councilmembers, policemen would become police officers, and so on.