Election Day saw no local contest in Anna Maria.
But there is a contest for an empty commission seat.
Anna Maria Mayor Dan Murphy and Commissioner Mark Short each gained two-year terms after qualifying to run for reelection without opposition.
Murphy became mayor in 2014 and was reelected without opposition in 2016, 2018 and 2020.
Short was appointed to the commission in September 2019 to complete the remainder of Brian Seymour’s term and now will serve his first full term on the dais.
Commissioner Amy Tripp also qualified to run for reelection without opposition but resigned from the commission at the end of August — after the qualification window closed — to move to Black Mountain, North Carolina, with her husband.
Commissioners agreed to leave Tripp’s seat open until her term expires this month, then appoint a successor.
Two residents — Doris “Deanie” Sebring and Sharon Wisniewski — applied for the two-year seat as of Nov. 4.
Commissioners will name a successor and Murphy and Short will be sworn in at 2 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 3, at city hall, 10005 Gulf Drive N.
The mayor earns $19,400 annually, while commissioners are paid $4,800 a year.
Despite the lack of a contest, 79.1% of eligible voters in Anna Maria cast ballots in the general election. Out of 1,058 eligible voters, 837 voted, including 372 who voted by mail, 123 who voted early and 342 who voted on Election Day.
— Ryan Paice