An incumbent Leesburg commissioner who has been critical of growth has been elected to a second term.
Commissioner Jay Connell has won re-election to Leesburg’s District 3 with 42.38 percent of the vote.
Connell faced three challengers, Fred Griffin Jr. who received 18.84 percent of the vote, Michael Patrick Huey who had 4.69 percent of the vote and Tim Sullivan, who had 34.95 percent of the total votes cast.
District 3 is the southern most District in Leesburg, an area of the city which has experienced explosive growth with the expansion of The Villages and other large developments.
Since winning election to the commission in 2021, Connell has stressed the need to slow down the annexation of new areas into the city. He has noted during commission meetings that there are now 40,000 home sites which have been approved within the present city limits. Most of these homesites have not yet been built up. He has stressed the need to have the roads in his District as well as the entire city upgraded to handle the traffic which the explosive growth has generated.