Kissimmee businesswoman Jackie Espinosa now knows who she is facing in the race for Kissimmee mayor. The recount of votes began at about 10 a.m. Friday and included both machine and manual recounts, confirming John Cortes as the runner-up, edging out third-place finisher Olga Cariño by just six votes.
The final vote total showed Jackie Espinosa leading with 1,446 votes, followed by Cortes with 1,228, Cariño with 1,222 and Olga Castano with 943.
Kari Ewalt, spokeswoman for the Osceola County elections supervisor, said a machine incorrectly marked a ballot as under-cast, but the election board concluded that the voter’s intention was to support Cortes.
Voter turnout was around 17%, with almost 300 postal votes rejected as incomplete.
Espinosa, who owns several businesses in downtown Kissimmee, has highlighted her community involvement and dedication to supporting small businesses, first responders and seniors.
Cortes, who represented the Kissimmee region in the Florida House of Representatives from 2014 to 2020, emphasized his experience and said he plans to revitalize downtown, help the homeless and improve infrastructure.
The run-off election is necessary because none of the candidates was able to achieve the required number of votes of 50%.
