Megan Sladek reelected Mayor of Oviedo

Oviedo Mayor Megan Sladek wins reelection in a three-way battle in which both opponents had primarily agreed on her agenda but tried to create doubts about her ability to work with the City Council.

Voters did not share that concern. Sladek easily won a second full term as Mayor after serving a term on the City Council.

Challenger Kevin Hipes is a real estate redeveloper who served as a Sanford City Commissioner before moving to Oviedo. Challenger Abe López is a teacher and small business owner with a public service past in New Jersey.

In unofficial returns of about 95% of the ballots cast, Sladek received 68% of the votes; López, 21%; and Hipes, 12%.

In an Oviedo City Council race, challenger Natalie Teuchert, a mechanical engineer, ousted incumbent Council member Judith Dolores Smith. In complete unofficial returns for that Group 1 seat, Teuchert received 52% of the vote, and Smith had 48%.

Oviedo is a former rural enclave turned bedroom community in southeastern Seminole County straddling greater Orlando’s eastern beltway, State Road 417. The city is tucked between Orange County and the University of Central Florida to the south and Seminole County’s protected rural areas to the east. Oviedo has grown rapidly in the past 30 years, from about 11,000 residents in 1990 to 40,000 in the 2020 census.

Though Tuesday’s mayoral election was a three-way contest, there was no requirement for a winner to get a majority of votes. Whoever gets the most votes wins. There will be no runoff.

Sladek had campaigned on completing the city’s comprehensive planning update, accelerated efforts to retire its debts and a MetroPlan mobility study that should lead to what she calls a “paradigm shift” in how the city assesses impact fees for transportation improvements.