Losing City Commission candidates said they anticipate bright political futures, despite landslide victories by incumbents in Tuesday's Gainesville City Elections.
Although their platforms disagreed, candidates could agree that they learned from the campaign.
"Oh, it was fantastic," said Richard Selwach, candidate for At-Large seat 1. "Everybody's really happy that I participated and gave people another choice," he said, adding that business at his pawn shop increased due to the publicity.
"I have a line out the door," he said. "I can't buy this type of advertising."
Selwach said he only received 6.19 percent of votes because the incumbents got more publicity and campaign contributions.
He said if there had been a primary, the results wouldn't have been divided up between so many candidates. In that case, he said, there probably would have been a run-off between Jeanna Mastrodicasa, Robert Krames and himself.
District 1 Commissioner Scherwin Henry captured 68.21 percent of votes, and At-Large Commissioner Jeanna Mastrodicasa received 58.13 percent of the votes.
"Even though I lost, I feel I did the best job out of all the candidates," Selwach said, adding that his unique point of view made the debates more lively.
Selwach added that Mastrodicasa's and Krames' campaign contributions and his position as a conservative libertarian made it difficult for him to win.
Selwach's possible plans include running for District 4 commissioner, where he lives, or for mayor if Craig Lowe, a city commissioner and leader of anti-Amendment 1 group Equality is Gainesville's Business, also decides to run.
"Next year, there won't be an incumbent," he said.
James Schlachta, who secured 4 percent of the At-Large votes, said this was his first campaign.
"It was a great group of people running," Schlachta said. "It was good to see more than two people running. We got to see more of a diverse group."
Like Selwach, Schlachta credited financial contributions to Mastrodicasa and Krames as a big reason for their higher numbers.
"Jeanna and Robert were able to raise a lot more money, and that helped out a lot," Schlachta said.
Schlachta, who was pro-Amendment 1, said that he probably got a lower percentage of the votes because many people showed up at the polls primarily to oppose Charter Amendment 1, which would have eliminated the city ordinance titled "Discrimination."
Although he has no definite plans, Schlachta said he may run for City Commission again.
Robert Krames, the runner-up for the At-Large seat with 25 percent of the votes, said he felt that each candidate was heartfelt and that he had no hard feelings toward the winners.
"I plan to stay involved, and I congratulate all the candidates on a race well-run," Krames said. "They were all trying to make the world a better place, and I compliment them on that."
Tom Cunilio, who earned 6.27 percent of At-Large seat votes, could not be reached for comment.
Considering it was her first time running for office in Gainesville and the fact that she has only been a resident for five years, Marcia Wimberly said getting almost 32 percent of the votes was wonderful.
"We had a great time. People were wonderful," Wimberly said.
She also was impressed by the election's high turnout.
"We almost tripled," Wimberly said. "That's a plus. That's a big plus."
