FORT LAUDERDALE — Former Fort Lauderdale Vice Mayor Dean Trantalis is heading for a runoff in March for the city’s District 2 Commission seat, in a race that will pit him against another former City Commissioner, Charlotte Rodstrom, who had given up the seat to run unsuccessfully for Broward County Commission.
Trantalis and Rodstrom finished ahead of Chuck Black and Lester Zalewski in a special election that drew fewer than 2,500 voters.
The road to the runoff between Rodstrom and Trantalis began when the latter, an LGBT rights advocate and attorney with a practice based in Wilton Manors, left the District 2 seat after serving a single term from 2003 to 2006.
Rodstrom succeeded Trantalis as District 2 commissioner, and won two additional terms, the last one in January 2012. Weeks later, she announced that she would run for the Broward County Commission seat being vacated by her term-limited husband, former Broward Mayor John Rodstrom, a move that drew sharp criticism and accusations of careerism.
Because of Florida’s resign-to-run law, passed in 1970, Rodstrom was required to give up her city commission seat in November, having already lost the race county commission seat in August.
In Tuesday’s matchup, the results with all precincts reporting showed Rodstrom with 1,154 votes (47 percent) and Trantalis with 1,026 votes (42 percent). Black in third and Zalewski in fourth place, respectively, garnered a total of 291 votes, or 12 percent combined.
Because no candidate netted a required 50 percent of the vote-plus-one, the runoff between Trantalis and Rodstrom will be held on March 12.
“The results from yesterday have shown that we can win this race,” Trantalis told the Agenda.
He also blamed lackluster media coverage of the District 2 race for apathy at the polls. “The lack of attention given to the election by the gay press is reflected in the poor turnout of LGBT voters. We should be ashamed of ourselves for being so complacent.
“At a time when our rights are continually being challenged, our failure to support candidates in high profile positions will only lead to our personal defeat,” Trantalis added. “We seemed obsessed with national figures and their personal lives and personal tastes. A lot of good that will do us. We cannot let down our guard in our struggle for equal rights. Our success lies right here at home.”
