CLEARWATER -- Clearwater city elections are officially nonpartisan, but candidates backed by Republicans did well Tuesday.
In the mayor's race, Republican Bruce Rector easily defeated Kathleen Beckman, 63 to 37 percent.
In two other city council races, Ryan Cotton defeated incumbent Mark Bunker, an outspoken opponent of the Church of Scientology who was backed by Democrats.
Michael Mannino beat two candidates in Seat 3.
Florida Republican Party chair Evan Power sent out a release touting results in Clearwater and other cities around the state Tuesday. “When I was elected in January, I vowed that our Party would focus on empowering grassroots and that includes helping our local candidates. For as long as I’m Chairman, we will continue to #FightInEveryCounty and #KeepFloridaWinning!," Power said in the release.
One factor may have affected turnout. Even though former President Trump is the presumptive nominee, Republicans still turned out to vote in the primary. Democrats decided to skip their presidential contest and declare President Joe Biden the presumptive nominee.
Voters also decided to adopt a runoff system for future city elections.
Photo: Canva