Jacobs, Segal advance to runoff for Orange County mayor

Teresa Jacobs will face Bill Segal in the race for Orange County mayor in November.

With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Jacobs led her opponents with 42 percent of the vote.

Segal came in second with 23 percent of the vote, while Linda Stewart and Matt Falconer received 19 percent and 15 percent respectively.

Jacobs and her campaign crew celebrated at the Sonesta Hotel in downtown Orlando Tuesday after spending the day traveling around the county.

Jacobs, who has four children, went together as a family to vote around 11 a.m.

On Tuesday, they focused on District 1, which is basically southwest Orange County. This is the area where Jacobs was a former commissioner.

Her campaign manager said the people there know her and love her.  
 
"Anything happens in the last few weeks in the election campaign, especially when two or three people are behind and they're always trying to throw up distractions but it won't be a distraction come November," Segal said.

Third place finisher Linda Stewart will decide in the upcoming days who she will hand her support to in the mayoral race.

Stewart fell thousands of votes shy of Segal, but said her grassroots campaign proved a lot.

She said her meager spending campaign hung in with the big spenders until the very end.

Stewart only raised $130,000.

She called herself a terrible fundraiser and said it’s her biggest downfall.

“I’m proud of everything,” Stewart said. “The people here are very proud that they were able to get us here today. This is blood, sweat and tears. It’s what a grassroots campaign is. Sometimes you come out on top. Other times you’re a bit short.”

Stewart said she has no regrets and is proud of her supporters and the diversity she said they brought.

She said her political career is not over but doesn’t know what her next step will be.

Falconer said despite his loss, he feel like he was still able to accomplish a lot.

The Tea Party favorite campaigned on a platform of debt reduction and low taxes -- two issues Falconer believes he brought front and center with his campaign.
 
"We will keep going and we will keep at,” Falconer said. “This is just the beginning of a long battle to defeat special interest in Orange County and elsewhere.”
 
Falconer did not rule out running for office again.

He declined to endorse either Segal or Jacobs, saying he wouldn't pick either of the two evils.