Amber Ware beat Mayor Kevin Anderson with 54% of the vote Tuesday, by 2,108 votes. In Ward 3, Terolyn Watson kept her City Council seat. The results are unofficial until certified.

Amber Ware will be the next mayor of Fort Myers. She beat Mayor Kevin B. Anderson on Tuesday, taking 54.09% of the vote to his 45.91%.

Ware won 13,942 votes and Anderson won 11,834, a margin of 2,108. All 10 precincts that vote in the mayor’s race had reported. The figures are the Lee County Supervisor of Elections’ unofficial election night results, last updated at 9:11 p.m. Tuesday. They become final when the county canvassing board certifies them.

In the only City Council race on the ballot, Ward 3 council member Terolyn P. Watson held her seat. She beat Chantel “Telly” Rhodes 57.71% to 42.29%.

The results

Race Candidate Votes Share
Mayor Amber Ware 13,942 54.09%
Mayor Kevin B. Anderson 11,834 45.91%
Ward 3 Terolyn P. Watson 1,516 57.71%
Ward 3 Chantel “Telly” Rhodes 1,111 42.29%

Winners in bold. Unofficial results, Lee County Supervisor of Elections. Both races are nonpartisan.

In all, 25,776 votes were cast for mayor and 2,627 in Ward 3. Watson’s margin was 405 votes.

Where Ware won

Ware led Anderson in every way of voting, but by very different margins.

  • Mail ballots: Ware 6,456, Anderson 4,831. This was her biggest lead, 1,625 votes.
  • Early voting: Ware 4,693, Anderson 4,229, a lead of 464.
  • Election Day: Ware 2,793, Anderson 2,774. Only 19 votes separated them.

Mail ballots made up the largest share of the mayor’s race, 11,287 of the 25,776 votes.

Bar chart of the Fort Myers mayor's race on Nov. 3, 2026, by how ballots were cast. Mail ballots: Amber Ware 6,456, Kevin Anderson 4,831. Early voting: Ware 4,693, Anderson 4,229. Election Day: Ware 2,793, Anderson 2,774. Unofficial results from the Lee County Supervisor of Elections.
Ware led in mail, early and Election Day voting. Chart by Fort Myers Daily, from the Lee County Supervisor of Elections' unofficial results.
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The 8-point margin is far outside the range for a recount. Florida orders an automatic machine recount only when the margin is 0.5% of the votes or less, under section 102.141 of the Florida Statutes.

Who the winners are

Anderson was sworn in as the city’s 62nd mayor on Nov. 16, 2020, after serving as the Ward 4 council member, according to the city’s Mayor and Council page. Ware was the challenger.

Watson keeps the Ward 3 seat she already holds, according to the same city page. Only Ward 3 voters chose in that race.

The other two council seats up this year were settled before Election Day. Teresa Watkins Brown in Ward 1 and Fred Burson in Ward 5 were the only candidates to qualify. The county’s 2026 municipal candidate list shows both as elected unopposed. Our preview of the races has the full field.

What happens next

  • Certification: the Lee County canvassing board certifies the count. Until then, every figure here is unofficial.
  • Swearing in: the city has not yet announced the date. The mayor and council members serve four-year terms, according to the City Clerk’s election page.
  • Campaign finance: final reports for every candidate will appear on the city’s campaign finance portal.

What it means for you

  • Fort Myers will have a new mayor. The mayor is the one city official every voter elects, and represents all residents citywide, the city’s page says.
  • If you live in Ward 3, your council member stays the same.
  • The City Council’s makeup changes only at the mayor’s seat. Every ward seat that was up this year went to the incumbent or an unopposed candidate.
  • Not sure which ward you are in? The City Clerk’s page links the city’s ward maps.

We will update this story when the results are certified and when the city sets a date for the swearing in. This story is strictly factual and endorses no candidate.

Related: who to call at City Hall, our Lee County voting guide and Fort Myers Beach voters reject fire, mosquito mergers.

Sources