Bankson or Bell? Becker or Potter? Vote now in The Apopka Voice Reader's Poll

Can you believe it's election season already?

It's official. The field for the 2020 Apopka municipal elections is set. Four candidates have emerged and qualified to run for Seat #3 and Seat #4 of the City Commission.

Commissioners Doug Bankson and Kyle Becker are primed and ready to defend their seats, however, challengers Leroy Bell and Lorena Potter stand in their way.

Bankson won Seat #3 in 2016, defeating incumbent Sam Ruth with over 56% of the vote. He is challenged by Bell, who is running for the second time after a third-place showing in 2016 for Seat #2, currently occupied by Commissioner Alice Nolan.

Becker won Seat #4 in 2016, defeating longtime incumbent Bill Arrowsmith with over 55% of the vote. Potter, a retired City of Apopka employee, is taking him on and running in her first election.

Both Bankson and Becker enter the race with strong name recognition and are likely to be well-funded in their campaigns. However, six straight challenged incumbents have lost in Apopka municipal elections dating back to 2012, including two in the very last cycle - 2018. Retired Commissioner Billie Dean was the last incumbent to defend his Seat (#1) way back in 2010.

Can Bell and Potter keep the non-incumbent trend going? Will Bankson and Becker successfully navigate re-election? Who are the favorites at the start of this race?

There's one way to find out.

The Apopka Voice has promised to keep its readers informed on this election, and this is the first step.

Where does the race for Seat #3 and #4 stand?

Below, we have published an online poll of our readers that will ask two questions:

If the election for Apopka City Commission Seat #3 was held today, who would you vote for?

• Doug Bankson
• Leroy Bell

and...

If the election for Apopka City Commission Seat #4 was held today, who would you vote for?

• Kyle Becker
• Lorena Potter

The poll will close at noon on Monday, December 23rd, at which time we will publish its results.

This is not a scientific poll. The margin of error is unknown, but it will reflect a snapshot of where The Apopka Voice readers stand with these four candidates at the beginning of their campaigns, but with less than three months to go before Election Day. And in both the 2016 and 2018 elections, these polls did prove accurate.

So show the community you have 2020 vision and vote for the candidates you think will best lead Apopka into its promising future.