For the first time in 10 years, the City of Fort Myers elected a new mayor on Tuesday.
The race between Kevin Anderson, who has served on the city council, and first-time politician Jacquelyn McMiller was a tight one, with Anderson getting a little over 53% of the votes.
At a watch party at the Luminary Hotel in Fort Myers, McMiller said running for Mayor was one of the best experiences of her life.
"And I don't want any young people to be discouraged, because we always must move forward and we learn from every experience that we have," McMiller said. "And I have learned an incredible amount."
McMiller was the first woman and person of color to run in a Fort Myers mayoral race. She said she will continue to work in the community to bring equality to all people in the city.
"I’ll still be doing my volunteering as I was before, I’m going to go back to my nonprofit, but I want to do more." McMiller said. "This [race] has a bug in me that somehow I can’t shake. There’s so much that we can do and if God gives me that voice to do it, I’m going to utilize it."
Nearly 33,000 people participated in the Fort Myers mayoral race. Kevin Anderson will be sworn in as mayor on November 16.
