Four of the five Islamorada Village Council seats will see a contest in the November election.
The qualifying period among residents wishing to serve in village office ended at noon on Aug. 11. Four seats have two candidates squaring off against one another, while current Vice Mayor Sharon Mahoney went unopposed for seat 5.
“I just appreciate the fact this community thinks enough of me that they have given me this honor. And it is an honor,” she told Keys Weekly. “I try to be a voice of the people and do what’s best. I grew up here and it has a special place in my heart.”
Up until noon, candidates had the ability to file for any of the five seats. Candidates also had the chance to switch from one seat to another before the cutoff.
Incumbent Anna Richards and Plantation Key resident Joe Wischmeier will vie for seat 1. Richards filed for re-election on March 9. She’s served the village since February 2025, when the council appointed her to fill the remainder of then-councilman Buddy Pinder’s two-year term.
In addition to her surveying and mapping business, she’s a certified floodplain manager and licensed real estate agent. She’s a past president of the Upper Keys Rotary Club. Serving the village more than a year, Richards told Keys Weekly she wants to continue making “balanced” decisions that benefit the community, from the residents and businesses to the environment.
A resident since 1989, Wischmeier is a boat captain who recently retired from the Florida Sea Base. Wischmeier has spent years attending village council meetings and chiming in on the issues. He believes Islamorada is becoming overdeveloped and wants to preserve remaining green space. He said he wants to get more involved in the village comprehensive plan while establishing controls for transferable development rights, or TDRs.
“The fact you can take a 300- to 400-foot space and turn it into a ‘McMansion’ vacation rental … I remember when the village used to be the village. Now it’s just getting so built up. I’m concerned about the runaway development happening in this village,” he said.
Current council members Steve Friedman and Deb Gillis will square off in the seat 2 race. A backcountry guide, Friedman filed his paperwork for village council seat 2 on May 18. He ran for and won the seat in the November 2024 election, having secured 53.43% of the village votes.
Friedman told Keys Weekly in a previous interview that he’s learned quite a bit in his first term as a councilman. He’s proud of the fact that he was put to the test in his first meeting, when a majority voted to overturn a previous council decision and requested more building permit allocations from the state. Friedman voted “no.”
Gillis originally filed for seat 3 on April 15, but decided to switch to seat 2 before the noon deadline and avoided what would have been a three-person race. Gillis owns and runs Key Lantern Inn and Blue Fin Inn at MM 82.1, bayside. She served on the village council for eight years until she termed out in 2018. She served as mayor and vice mayor during her stint. She returned to the council following her victory during the 2024 election.
A race for seat 3 will see lifelong resident Corie McGraw-Abel squaring off against longtime Lower Matecumbe resident Sue Miller. McGraw-Abel filed for office on Aug. 3. The legislative aide to County Commissioner Holly Raschein, McGraw-Abel said she felt it was the right time to seek office. She said she’s fit to serve the village given all the years she’s lived in the village and her experience working on local, county and state issues as an aide. She’s the wife of Islamorada Fire Chief Terry Abel.
Miller moved to Islamorada in 1980 with husband Jay and two young boys. She’s stayed involved in village government issues going back to the days of the village’s incorporation. She filed for office on Aug. 10.
“I think that the knowledge I have acquired over years, attending meeting after meeting and studying agendas … I’m well prepared with what lies ahead,” she said. “I’d do everything possible to make residents understand we are there to serve them and make life better for them, and get involved in the decision making.”
Miller believes the village can improve the current budget, which proposes a 10% property tax increase. She said the increase is unnecessary, especially at a time when the state encourages all agencies to reduce taxes.
Current Mayor Don Horton and former DEA chief of operations Tom Raffanello will square off for seat 4. Horton was the first to file for re-election on Jan. 29. A former building services director for Monroe County and building official for Islamorada, Horton secured seat 4 in the 2024 election, winning 60.9% of the vote. In a previous interview, Horton said the current council has brought a level of professionalism that was previously missing.
“I don’t feel like I stand up alone,” he said. “If we can have a professional council that can work together and get things done … the council isn’t just one person, it’s a team working for the betterment of the village.”
In his time with the DEA, Raffanello assumed responsibility for 10,000 employees in 110 domestic offices and 71 countries with a budget of more than $200 million. Raffanello said he has a different approach compared to the ones who’ve served on the village council.
“We haven’t run anyone through there in an executive management position that has executive management experience,” he said.
Raffanello said taxes in the village have increased 58% in the past five years, issues keep getting kicked down the road and a strategic plan update is long overdue. He said he’s looking to bring transparency, common sense while seeking more input from residents.
