Mulicka, Greenwell advance; Caldwell, Doyle re-elected
Lee County Republicans have kept Lee County Board of County Commissioners Chairman Mike Greenwell as the party’s nominee for the District 5 seat in a primary Tuesday while also choosing David Mulicka for the District 3 seat.
Greenwell withstood a challenge from Alva Re-publican Amanda Cochran in one of the tighter county races of the night. Greenwell beat Cochran 55.33% to 44.66%.
Cochran ran a campaign against overdevelopment and specifically objected to a development proposal for property Greenwell owns in the rural North Olga neighborhood. The property had been rezoned by the Lee County Board of County Commissioners while Greenwell was on the board to allow for 400,000 square feet of commercial space and 122 multifamily units.
Greenwell contended that he needed to develop the property after losing part of his land to state road expansion projects to accommodate increased traffic from Babcock Ranch.
Greenwell will now face Democrat Kizzie Fowler in the November election.
District 5 includes Alva, Lehigh Acres, Buckingham, Olga and eastern unincorporated Fort Myers though voting is open to all of the county’s electorate.
Mulicka, owner of HONC Destruction, won his race comfortably while running on a pro-development platform over Matt Thornton. Mulicka received 64.29% of the vote over his opponent’s near 35.71%. Thornton ran a campaign against what he contended was over-aggressive development in the county.
Mulicka is the husband of District 78 State Representative Jenna Persons-Mulicka.
He faces a write-in candidate, Jake Cataldo, in November.
District 3 includes Fort Myers Beach, Bonita Springs, Estero and the Iona-McGregor section of unincorporated Lee County.
County commissioners must reside in the district in which they run but are elected by voters countrywide.
Other races
Lee County voters countywide, regardless of political party, were able to take part in a universal primary to keep Lee County Property Appraiser Matt Caldwell and Lee County Supervisor of Elections Tommy Doyle in office. Both won in landslides.
Caldwell easily turned back the campaign of Steve Cunningham, while Doyle defeated Michael “Mick” Peters in universal primaries open to all Lee County voters.
Election returns saw Caldwell receiving 70.37% of the vote and Doyle receiving 80.42% of the vote in their respective races.
Peters did win a race to be Lee County’s representative as a State Republican committeeman with 59% of the vote over Andrew Sund. Peters is also on the executive board of the Lee County Republican Committee.
Melissa Giovannelli and Tara Jenner were in a close race for State Republican Committeewoman representing Lee County. Jenner won with 34% to 31% for Giovannelli. Krissy Houlihan received 20% of votes while Adele Amico had 15%.
More than 109,000 ballots were cast in Lee County for a turnout rate of about 23% of registered voters.
Results from the primary election are unofficial until certified.
To reach NATHAN MAYBERG / nmayberg@breezenewspapers.com, please email