Video produced by Multimedia Editor Serafina Frederick / Gene Emter speaks with Headline Surfer after being sworn in March 5 as the newest member of the Edgewater City Council following his win in a special election a week earlier to fill the seat opened with the passing of Ted Cooper.
EDGEWATER, Fla. -- By a mere dozen votes, Gene Emter was elected to the Edgewater City Council in a Feb. 28 special election.
Only 7 percent of the city's nearly 13,600 registered voters cast votes in the special election.
Still, every vote counts and the 74-year-old retired school superintendent from Ohio prevailed over retired Edgewater cop Gary Conroy to take over the district 4 seat that was held by Ted Cooper, who died of a massive heart attack in November at the age of 62.
Emter, however, found the campaign trail a much easier path to take when it came to any potential challengers in the ensuing months leading up to qualifying.
When qualifying ended at noon on June 5, Emter and fellow incumbent Gigi Bennington were automatically returned to their respective seats on the Edgewater City Council because no one else challenged them, and therefore, those seats were no longer in play when it came to the subsequent 2012 August primary and November general elections.
When qualifying ended at noon on June 5, Gene Emter and fellow incumbent Gigi Bennington were automatically returned to their respective seats on the Edgewater City Council because no one else challenged them, and therefore, those seats were no longer in play when it came to the subsequent 2012 August primary and November general elections.
The veteran Bennington was first elected to the city council in 2007.