L-R: Ed Danko, Alan Lowe, and Victor Barbosa. Danko and Barbosa each won their city council races, respectively. ⓒ Stephen Helfrich
Alan Lowe has conceded the race for Palm Coast mayor after falling 5.1% short of his opponent. The mayoral race was a heated and very competitive race, but incumbent Milissa Holland ultimately prevailed over challenger Lowe.
Lowe polled well in the buildup to the election, but ultimately came up just short. Both candidates in the mayor race were Republicans, but Holland was widely thought to have captured most of the Democratic vote. Challenger Lowe strongly endorsed President Trump, which likely gave him more of the Republican vote than Holland, but not enough to push him over the edge.
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At 8:40 pm Tuesday night, Lowe posted the following statement to Facebook:
“It looks like Melissa Holland won the race tonight by a small margin of votes. I thank everybody that came out to support me and don’t think I’m going away! I’m going to continue on and work to improve our city.”
Lowe received several hundred comments, most offering consolation and support. At 6:18 am Wednesday morning, Lowe added to his concession with another Facebook post congratulating Holland:
“Congratulations Milissa Holland on retaining your seat as Mayor of Palm Coast. Although I fought hard, the people have spoken and I respect their choice. I want to also congratulate Councilman Ed Danko and Councilman Victor Barbosa on winning their campaigns, they worked very hard for it. Congratulations are also in order for Nick Klufas for winning his race.
Everyone in every other race deserves our respect for standing up and wanting to make a positive impact in our community.
Sincerely,
Alan Lowe”
Milissa Holland’s Response
The exchange came after some heated moments in between the two candidates, including accusations against Holland of corruption and airing a racist TV ad. Milissa Holland posted to Facebook after learning she’d won, but the post did not mention Alan Lowe. Holland now enters her second and final term as Palm Coast mayor.
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