Hans Buder takes overwhelming lead in Carmel mayoral race; Measures M and N gains support.

There was one Carmel party to rule them all after the polls closed Nov. 3, hosted by likely mayor-to-be Hans Buder. Seventh & Dolores, the steakhouse with the same name as its address, saw roughly 75 people sipping wine and snacking on bacon-wrapped prawns as they chatted and waited in anticipation for election results to roll in.

“Carmel, are you ready to fix the sidewalks?” Buder asked a cheering crowd. “We are going to build a better-run city. This council is going to measure performance, track results and constantly be looking for ways to do things better, faster and cheaper.”

Early results showed Buder poised to become the next mayor, leading the race by about 800 votes over opponent David Boland, a margin of 82-18. Buder, who is halfway through his first term on City Council, raised more money than his opponent. The two most notably differed on Carmel’s housing element and how to manage tourism.

The winner will fill the seat Dale Byrne held for one term, and for which he is not seeking reelection.

“I think it’s important that we stay on track with our public works projects,” Byrne says of anticipated challenges for the next mayor. He attended an earlier election night celebration at City Hall. “We pushed hard to get Measure M passed, so keeping focused on all the things moving forward.”

Measure M, which would increase the transient occupancy tax rate from 10 percent to 12 percent, generating approximately $1.9 million annually, also appeared poised to pass, with 71 percent of preliminary vote as of 8:25pm.

Measure N, a sales tax increase, did not face the same kind of opposition campaign as Measure M and is also in position to pass, with 64.5 percent of the vote. 

Of the three candidates running for two City Council seats, incumbent Alissandra Dramov and Carmel Planning Commissioner Stefan Karapetkov, running for council for the first time, are leading the race in early returns. Bobby Richard, who served two terms from 2016 to 2024, is trailing in third.

“Serving on City Council comes with more responsibility,” Karapetkov says of the preliminary results showing in his favor. “It’s still close, but it’s looking good.”