Inside Vero	Inside Vero	TCPalm	TCPalm
	Votes	Percentage	Votes	Percentage
Richard Winger	103	43.83%	22	31%
Amelia Graves	102	43.40%	22	31%
Tracy Carroll	17	7.23%	12	17%
Brian Heady	10	4.26%	8	11%
Joseph Guffanti	3	1.28%	6	8%

As of Tuesday morning, Vero Beach City Council candidates Richard Winger and Amelia Graves held a wide lead over Tracy Carroll, Brian Heady and Joseph Guffanti in online polls on InsideVero.com and TCPalm.com.  The polls were posted Sunday morning.

Graves and Winger have both been endorsed by the Indian River Neighborhood Association, the Police Benevolent Association and Inside Vero.  Winger received the endorsement of the Press Journal editorial board, which declined to endorse a second candidate.

Though the Press Journal endorsed Carroll in her previous two runs for City Council, it withheld its coveted support from the Vice Mayor, noting that she “has had an awfully bad year.”  The Press Journal’s “non-endorsement” of Carroll cited “ill-considered comments,” perceived intolerance,” “questionable operation of rental property,” and “defensiveness.”

The barrier island weekly, Vero Beach 32963, has yet to endorse candidates in the City Council race.  Like the Press Journal, 32963 has twice before given Carroll its blessing.  Those endorsements were based largely on Carroll’s unwavering and steadfast support of the sale of Vero Electric.  Carroll’s involvement in short-term rentals, however, recently raised the ire of the island weekly’s editors.  On Aug. 8, 32963 called for Carroll to step aside to make room for a more electable candidate.  “Frankly, we don’t see how Tracy Carroll wins re-election,” the newspaper’s editors wrote.

To date, the only endorsement Carroll has received is an unofficial nod from Florida Power & Light, which is bankrolling Citizens for a Better Future, an electioneering communications organization established by utility activist Glenn Heran to promote Carroll’s re-election.  As of its latest financial filing, Citizens for a Better Future reported that 98 percent of its funding is coming directly from FPL.

Heran is also the president of the Taxpayers Association of Indian River County. Under Heran’s leadership, the TPA has pushed for the sale of Vero Electric, and has advocated, not for efficient government, which has been its traditional mission, but has instead called for “limited” government.  Carroll has been lockstep with the TPA’s agenda, approving the sales agreement between the city and FPL, and pushing for further cuts in city staff and services.  The TPA will host a candidate forum at a luncheon to be held Wednesday at the Elk’s Lodge.