Roger Chapin was elected Tuesday to the Orlando City Council, riding a well-funded campaign, decades of name recognition and powerful backers to a narrow victory.
Chapin won about 51% of the vote, with just 200 votes separating him from Mira Tanna.
He joins the elected body in the midst of a transition as one of two brand new commissioners sworn in at the start of next year. Interim Commissioner Shan Rose only held office for about 18 months and won a full term last month. Mayor Buddy Dyer is retiring in 2027 and other commissioners are weighing their futures as well.
The officially nonpartisan race was initially a five-way contest, with Chapin and Tanna, both Democrats, receiving the most votes and advancing to a head-to-head runoff. In November, just 14 votes separated the two.
Chapin, the son of former Orange County mayor Linda Chapin, secured endorsements from the third and fourth-place finishers in that race, as well as Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, retiring city commissioner Robert Stuart, Orange County Sheriff John Mina, as well as unions representing the city’s rank-and-file police and fire fighters.