For the second time, Gainesville’s electorate has sided with the City Commission and voted to eliminate the Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU) Authority.
Gainesville passed the local utilities referendum with 75% of the vote—10,882 out of 14,474 ballots. In 2024, a nearly identical referendum passed with 72% of the vote, but the result remains in limbo following a lawsuit and appeal to the Florida First District Court of Appeal.
GRU officials said on Monday that it would file an emergency motion before the appeals court to keep the status quo and prevent the referendum from being implemented.
Before the previous referendum, the GRU Authority received a temporary injunction to halt the results, but last week an Alachua County judge denied the request, forcing the utility to go to the appeals court with the emergency motion.
The Gainesville City Commission is scheduled to discuss the issue at its regular meeting on Thursday, the same day the results will be certified.
Mayor Harvey Ward said on Facebook that more information concerning legal action should be available Wednesday.
“We will have more detail tomorrow about any further legal action that may be taken to keep your vote from counting, but I am hopeful that everyone has heard your voice and will proceed with that in mind,” Ward said in the post.
Let the Voters Decide, a campaign run in support of the referendum, issued a statement after the results arrived. Chairperson Bobby Mermer said the campaign is also calling for an end to litigation and an orderly transition.
“This is the beginning of the process to create a GRU that everyone can afford and that works hand-in-hand with our community to ensure Gainesville’s utilities are governed with Gainesville values,” the statement said.
The campaign also highlighted the turnout, 19% of the eligible voters. According to Mermer and Commissioner Bryan Eastman, the turnout is the largest city-only election in decades. According to the Supervisor of Elections Office, a total of 76,338 residents were active eligible voters for the election.
But the Alachua County Republican Party also highlighted the turnout, saying a small percentage of local residents will control how everyone else lives. One of the largest issues for many opponents of the referendum was that only city residents could vote, but GRU services a large number of customers outside city limits, more than 30% for electric service.
While not an explicitly Republican Party versus Democratic Party issue, the arguments and sides largely formed along party lines.
The Let the Voters Decide campaign distributed promotions depicting Gov. Ron DeSantis and President Donald Trump on the “No” vote side and local Democratic Party leaders (Commissioner James Ingle, NAACP President Evelyn Foxx and former County Commissioner Hutch Hutchinson) on the “Yes” vote side.
The Supervisor of Elections Office reported that 69% of early voting participants were registered with the Democratic Party.
