SEMINOLE — Mayor Leslie Waters fended off a challenge Tuesday to retain her post, according to unofficial election results from the Pinellas Supervisor of Elections.
Waters received 56.5% (1,825) of the votes to defeat challenger Marcus Barber, who received 43%, or 1,400 votes.
In total, 3,232 (24.3%) of the city’s 13,298 registered voters cast a ballot in the municipal election, the only one held in Pinellas County on Tuesday.
Waters has been on the council since 2009 and has been mayor since 2013. She hasn’t been challenged for her post since 2019.
This time, she received a challenge from Barber, a lifelong resident of the city, father of two, and a U.S. Navy veteran of 20 years. He is the owner and lead instructor of Revive in Time CPR, an organization that provides CPR training and equipment. He was also the city of Seminole’s code enforcement officer from December 2021 to March 2024 and worked at the Bay Pines Veterans Administration as a medical support assistant.
Before serving on the City Council, Waters was a member of the Florida House of Representatives from 1998-2006, terming out as Speaker Pro-Tempore.
The Gulfport native and Boca Ciega High School graduate had a successful career at the Allstate Insurance Co. and has served as an adjunct political science professor at the University of South Florida and Eckerd College.
She has also been in numerous community organizations, including the Seminole Interfaith Food Pantry, United Way and March of Dimes.
Leading up to the election, Waters said her top priorities included keeping taxes low, maintaining safe neighborhoods and business districts, and strengthening storm preparedness.
Waters touts that under her leadership Seminole has remained debt-free and that the city has not raised its millage rate for 19 straight years.
“I look forward to continuing to govern the great city of Seminole in a fiscally conservative manner, with attention to our neighbors and to our booming business sector throughout the city,” Waters told Tampa Bay Newspapers before the election.
Two other seats on the City Council will also be retained by incumbents after Thom Barnhorn and Al Shields were unopposed. They will be sworn in on Nov. 18.