![\"Dave](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/6aaa0b33-2f33-4e53-8a26-5150f09b3f05_1734039656.jpg\")
<\/a>CAPE CORAL, Fla. \u2014<\/p>\nCape Coral Mayor John Gunter did not attend Wednesday night\u2019s city council meeting, just one day after losing his seat in the primary election. <\/p>\n
Gunter\u2019s chair was empty as the council convened for the first meeting after the election, where voters decided he would not keep his seat. Gunter, who has faced criticism since taking office in 2021, will not advance to the general election. <\/p>\n
This November, residents will choose between Lisa Cohen Adkinson and Rick Erickson as their next mayor. <\/p>\n
Gunter has faced backlash during his tenure for issues including the utilities extension project, renovations to Jaycee Park, and a monthly stipend for the city council that nearly doubled their pay. <\/p>\n
Campaign signs still litter the sidewalks in Cape Coral, but one sign that will come down and not return is Gunter\u2019s. Residents expressed their reactions to his loss. <\/p>\n
\u201cMy reaction to the vote was pleased. Very pleased,\u201d said John Hill, a Cape Coral voter. <\/p>\n
Voters said they lost confidence in Gunter, who failed to secure even 15% of the vote. <\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know all the reasons they got rid of him, but they might have considered something that wasn\u2019t right, and that\u2019s why he got booted out,\u201d said Lewis Urgell, another Cape Coral voter. <\/p>\n
Many residents are calling for better jobs in the city. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d really like to see them develop something that brings white-collar jobs to the Cape,\u201d Hill said. <\/p>\n
Lisa Cohen Adkinson, who came in second place with 24% of the vote, was the first to discuss her plans for November. <\/p>\n
\u201cAbsolutely. The number one thing I want. That\u2019s the big question\u2014are we going to be able to live here in the next five years?\u201d Adkinson said. <\/p>\n
She also expressed frustration with the city\u2019s current direction. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m tired of seeing this continuation of growing the government, growing the budget constantly,\u201d Adkinson said. <\/p>\n
Rick Erickson, who received the most votes at 32%, also shared his perspective after the results were announced. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what my job is. I\u2019m not happy with the way things are going right now. So that\u2019s why I\u2019m up running it,\u201d Erickson said. <\/p>\n
Adkinson criticized candidates who are not engaging with the community. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re not going to make yourself available for the community, maybe you\u2019re not the right person for the job,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
Voters emphasized the importance of accountability and transparency as the November 3 election approaches. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey should be accountable to the voters. That\u2019s why we vote!\u201d Urgell said. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to know what we\u2019re voting for, for sure,\u201d said Erica Glossenger, another Cape Coral resident.<\/p>\n
DOWNLOAD\u202fthe free\u202fGulf Coast News app<\/a>\u202ffor your latest news and alerts on breaking news, weather, sports, entertainment, and more on your phone or tablet. And check out the Very Local Gulf Coast app<\/a> to stream news, entertainment, and original programming on your TV.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cape Coral Mayor John Gunter skips council meeting day after losing in primary election CAPE CORAL, Fla. \u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":376060,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[151503,136712,209,211,210,27489,104,18716,20347,213,137675,21760,44418,2171,139403,13983,16663,151504],"class_list":["post-376124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cape-coral","tag-adkinson","tag-campaign-sign","tag-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral-headlines","tag-cape-coral-news","tag-city-council-meeting","tag-entertainment","tag-gen","tag-gunter","tag-late-news","tag-lisa-cohen-adkinson","tag-november","tag-primary-election","tag-resident","tag-rick-erickson","tag-vote","tag-voter","tag-well-job"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=376124"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376124\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/376060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=376124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=376124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=376124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}