By Steve Plunkett
Advertising consultant Steven Engel (RIGHT) and real estate broker Tom Thayer (LEFT) will reappear on the Nov. 6 ballot in their quest to become a Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District commissioner.
To reach the runoff, Engel received 4,266 votes (47.6 percent) to Thayer’s 3,425 votes (38.2 percent), according to unofficial results at the county Supervisor of Elections Office. Real estate agent Felipe Martinez had 1,281 votes (14.3 percent).
Engel and Thayer were evenly matched, 2,446 to 2,363, among voters who went to the polls Aug. 14, the elections office said. But Engel built up leads from early voters, 488 to 300, and absentee voters, 1,327 to 759.
And 1,631 voters made no choice in the race, which appeared at the end of the primary ballot, the elections office said.
The seat, which is open only to Beach and Park District residents who live outside the city, became open when Commissioner Dirk Smith resigned at the start of the year.
Thayer, a 34-year resident, moved from his home on the Intracoastal Waterway to a condo he owns in Boca West to be eligible to run. Engel, who has lived in the district 3½ years, rents a townhouse in Boca Del Mar.
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