Richard E. Erickson, Cape Coral candidate
Provided by Richard E. Erickson
USA TODAY Network, Reuters
Voters in Florida’s eighth-largest city will decide Nov. 3 on Cape Coral’s next mayor and who will fill three City Council seats, with the outcome likely shaping the direction of growth, infrastructure, redevelopment and economic development in what has been one of America’s fastest-growing communities.
The mayoral race featured the stunning Aug. 18 primary defeat of incumbent Mayor John Gunter. He failed to qualify for the runoff despite entering the election as the sitting mayor and having the largest campaign chest.
Retired Army veteran and businessman Rick Erickson and real estate broker and business owner Lisa Cohen-Adkinson advanced to the general election after finishing first and second, respectively, in the six-candidate field.
Voters also will decide races for District 1, District 4 and District 6 seats on the Cape Coral City Council. Although candidates run by district for the four-year terms, all registered voters in the city cast ballots in those races.
The matchups come as Cape Coral continues to grapple with the familiar challenges of: Determining who should bear the cost of growth; managing continued population increases; funding roads and infrastructure; addressing traffic congestion; ensuring long-term water capacity; and expanding higher-paying employment opportunities.
Mayor: Erickson vs. Cohen-Adkinson
The race for mayor became one of the biggest local political stories of 2026 after voters denied incumbent Gunter a spot in the runoff, setting up a November showdown between two political newcomers.
Erickson, 63, finished first in the primary. A Cape Coral resident for nearly four decades, he is a retired U.S. Army veteran, former U.S. Postal Service employee and founder of SaveOurVet.org and Norseman Ops. Throughout the campaign, Erickson has emphasized responsible growth, infrastructure planning, public safety and ensuring development keeps pace with roads, utilities and other services. Erickson told The News-Press that “growth should pay for growth” and has called for better alignment between development and infrastructure.
“The biggest missed opportunity has been failing to better align growth with infrastructure,” he said. “Growth should pay for growth, not the families who have already paid, (and) Tallahassee has steadily stripped local governments of their ability to manage growth. Cape Coral’s canals, water supply, and traffic challenges require local solutions, not one-size-fits-all mandates. As mayor, I’ll work with our legislative delegation to restore local control over growth and zoning decisions. (The) people of Cape Coral, not bureaucrats in Tallahassee, should shape our city’s future.”
Cohen-Adkinson, 46, finished second in the primary. A longtime Cape resident, she is broker-owner of Valor Property Management and Valor Real Estate Services and has been active in several community and veterans-related efforts. Cohen-Adkinson has focused heavily on affordability, job creation, government accountability and what she says is a need for a different direction at City Hall following the Aug. 18 results. She has argued Cape Coral needs to become more economically self-sufficient while creating higher-paying jobs and controlling costs borne by residents.
“My primary concern is affordability, plain and simple,” Cohen-Adkinson told The News-Press. “The question I ask everyone I meet is, “Will you be able to afford to live here in five years?” For too many families in this city right now, the honest answer is “I don’t know,” and that should bother every single one of us. I’m running to fix what’s actually broken, not add more on top of it. That means fixing our failing infrastructure first, cutting the fat at the top of this budget and stopping the overspending that’s driven taxes and assessments up on working families and seniors alike.”
The race also follows broader debate about growth, mobility fees, redevelopment and whether voters rejected what some critics have characterized as a developer-friendly political establishment that had significant influence over city policy in recent years.
For the primary, Gunter raised more than $123,000, easily leading the field, yet finished third with less than 15% of the vote. Erickson, who advanced with the most votes, raised about $38,500 combined in monetary and in-kind contributions. Cohen-Adkinson raised about $80,800. And from a campaign efficiency perspective of cost per vote, Erickson’s worked out to $3.22 for each vote received compared with more than $10 per vote for Gunter. For Cohen-Adkinson: $6.18 per vote. Here’s what it looks like:
Lisa Cohen-Adkinson came in second in the Aug. 18, 2026 Cape Coral mayoral election. That means she moves on to face first-place winner Rick Erickson in the November general election. Both the first- and second-place candidates beat out the incumbent, Mayor John Gunter. Provided by Lisa Cohen-Adkinson USA TODAY Network, Reuters 
Cape Coral’s Dave Newton. Provided by Dave Newton USA TODAY Network, Reuters 
Jennifer Nelson-Lastra Provided by Cape Coral Governmen USA TODAY Network, Reuters 
James Vargas of Cape Coral. Provided by James Vargas USA TODAY Network, Reuters 
Annette Warren of Cape Coral. Provided by Annette Warren and M USA TODAY Network, Reuters 
A sea of signs at the Bonita Commons center precinct ahead of the Aug. 18, 2026 primary in Southwest Florida. Phil Fernandez/ Fort Myers News- USA TODAY Network, Reuters
Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect
This story was originally published October 12, 2026 at 5:03 AM.