Williams upends McGrail to take District 6 spot
With the election over, a new face will represent District 6 on the Cape Coral City Council.
Incumbent Kevin McGrail lost his seat in Tuesday’s general election to Rick Williams, who garnered 53.36 percent of the total votes cast – 8,113 votes. McGrail earned 46.64 percent, or 7,090 votes.
“I’m very happy, obviously,” Williams said Tuesday of the win.
“Kevin and I had a very interesting campaign. It could have gone either way,” he said, adding that he and McGrail ran good campaigns. “I actually expected the results to be closer.”
Asked what he believed put him over the top, Williams cited the public service tax.
“I’m standing against it, and he supported it,” he said.
Eliminating the public service tax and taking control of the city budget are priorities for Williams.
“I know there are efficiencies that can be had,” he said. “We need to sit down and look at it and start doing things smarter.”
Williams also wants to help increase public involvement in city operations and planning.
“I’d like to get people in Cape Coral involved in the city – the voter turnout is one of the indicators,” he said. “I hope to be a leader in that.”
Asked about Tuesday’s turnout, Williams called it a bad election.
“I think voter turnout is historically bad,” he said. “We had, unfortunately, forecast 11 percent – we did beat that, so I guess we’re happy about that, but there’s too much apathy.”
Williams noted that there are contentious ordinances coming up before council members.
“I think we need to, as a council, start working together,” he said. “We need to start working together as a group and get the politics off the dais.”
McGrail did not immediately return messages seeking comment Tuesday.
The election results are not official until certified.