Melbourne City Elections — Melbourne, Florida

Every Melbourne voter helps choose every seat on the City Council. The City of Melbourne's Run for City Council page describes a seven-member council made up of the Mayor, who may reside anywhere in the city, and six Council members, who must reside within specific districts. All members of the City Council are elected at large by the voters, so a candidate for the District 4 seat, for example, appears on ballots in Eau Gallie and in south Melbourne alike.

Terms are four years. The City Council page states that the Mayor and six Council Members serve four-year terms, and the seats are staggered. As of October 8, 2026, the mayor's seat and Districts 1, 3 and 5 carry terms from November 2024 to November 2028, while Districts 2, 4 and 6 carry terms that end in November 2026. Mayor Paul Alfrey, first elected to the council in 2016 and elected mayor in 2020, was re-elected in 2024 for a term ending in 2028. Last verified: October 8, 2026, on the City of Melbourne website.

Melbourne voters are spread across 21 precincts listed by the Brevard County Supervisor of Elections, numbered from 300 to 531. On Election Day each voter goes to the polling place for the assigned precinct.

Three council seats are on the 2026 cycle. The Supervisor of Elections candidate list, checked on October 8, 2026, shows City of Melbourne City Council Districts 2, 4 and 6, with a municipal qualifying period from July 30, 2026 to August 13, 2026.

In District 2, the Supervisor lists two qualified candidates, and neither is the incumbent, Mark LaRusso, whose city profile shows he was first elected on November 6, 2018 and re-elected on November 8, 2022, with a term that extends to November 2026. In District 4, two candidates qualified, including incumbent Rachael Bassett, who according to her council page was elected on November 8, 2022 by the city at large. That page describes District 4 as beginning north of Orlando Melbourne International Airport and extending south to Palm Bay Road, with Babcock Street as its main eastern edge and West Melbourne to the west.

District 6 is different. Vice Mayor Julie Kennedy was first elected on November 6, 2018 and re-elected on November 8, 2022, and her profile states that her second four-year term will end in November 2026. The Supervisor lists one qualified candidate for District 6, marked unopposed. Under Melbourne's qualifying rules, a seat with only one qualified candidate at the close of qualifying is filled without a contest, so the District 6 race does not appear as a choice on the November 3 ballot.

Melbourne precinct ballots on November 3, 2026 also carry one city question. The Supervisor of Elections release of September 28, 2026 counts one municipal referendum for Melbourne. According to the Supervisor of Elections list of 2026 referenda, that question is Melbourne Ordinance 2026-25, a City Charter amendment to Section 8.04 that would let the council delegate the duties of the Board of Adjustment to the Planning and Zoning Board.

The statewide ballot matters to City Hall as well. The City of Melbourne's Amendment 3 page states that the property tax measure was approved by the Florida Legislature on June 2, 2026 and will appear on the November 3, 2026 ballot, needing at least 60 percent statewide approval. The city estimates a funding gap of about $10.1 million in FY2028 if it passes, using 2026 tax roll data. The Supervisor notes a two-page ballot in Brevard this year.

The rules for candidates come from Sec. 2.02 of the Melbourne City Charter. A candidate must be a resident of the city for one year and, for a council seat, a resident of the district for at least six months prior to qualification; must be at least 18; and must be a registered voter. Neither a Council member nor the Mayor may qualify to serve more than two complete consecutive terms, but a term-limited council member may run for mayor, and a term-limited mayor may run for a council seat.

The jobs are paid modestly. The Run for City Council page lists the Mayor's salary as $10,350 per year plus a monthly expense allowance of $415, and a council member's salary as $7,475 per year plus $255 a month. The council meets on the second and fourth Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. at Melbourne City Hall, with the schedule usually adjusted in September for budget hearings.

The City Clerk serves as the qualifying officer for City elections, and the clerk's office hands out the election package. As of October 8, 2026, the Melbourne City Clerk is Kevin McKeown. Candidates first file: a form designating a campaign treasurer and depository is filed with the City Clerk, and no campaign account may be opened before that. Filing can happen at any time, and campaign finance reports are due from the date of filing forward.

Getting on the ballot is a separate step. The Melbourne code sets the qualifying period between 82 days and 96 days prior to the election date, which produced the July 30 to August 13, 2026 window. During qualifying a candidate brings the clerk a petition signed by 25 registered city voters, a complete financial disclosure form, a $50 qualifying fee, and a state election assessment of 1 percent of salary, which is $153.30 for mayor or $105.35 for a council seat. Qualifying takes place at the Office of City Clerk on the fifth floor of City Hall, 900 E. Strawbridge Avenue, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays.

The Brevard County Supervisor of Elections, Tim Bobanic, runs the mechanics. The September 28, 2026 release set Election Day as Tuesday, November 3, with a voter registration deadline of Monday, October 5, and a deadline of 5 p.m. on October 22 for Melbourne voters not already on the mail ballot list to request one. The Supervisor's Melbourne office is at 1515 Sarno Road.

Early voting in Brevard runs longer than the state minimum. The Supervisor of Elections early voting page lists Monday, October 19 through Saturday, October 31, 2026, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends, and Melbourne voters may use any Brevard early voting site. The Florida Division of Elections sets the mandatory statewide period as October 24 to 31, 2026, and places general elections on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of every even-numbered year, which is why Melbourne's council races fall on November 3.